Full Circle
by AprilSeven2
Summary: My (admittedly unorthodox) tale of what happened to Astro after the series vanished from TV in the 60's. Focuses on how a boy became the hero of the world, as a robot, and then "returned" to his human origins – in the process, he gives us a look into our hearts, morals, and fears, and asking just what does it mean to be "human?" Reflects 60's anime; set in USA; original characters.
1. Chapter 1

**Introduction**

Astro Boy / Tetsuwan Atom is the creation of Osamu Tezuka (to whom I am eternally grateful!)

This is my (admittedly unorthodox) tale of what happened to Astro **after** the series vanished from TV in the 60's. I always figured Astro would eventually grow up – obviously he was designed to do so – but the programming didn't work as anticipated – instead it kicked in about 12 years later. There are many original characters – and I take no offense to those who prefer to avoid them – I give you fair warning!

The story is set in America (Until 1989 I did not realize Astro Boy was actually _set_ _in Japan!_). The characters reflect the American dub (with plenty of "artistic license" taken). It focuses on what kept me interested in Astro for almost a half-century: How a boy became the hero of the world, as a robot, and then "returned" to his human origins – in the process, giving us a look into our hearts, morals, and fears, and asking _just what does it mean_ to be "human?"

Astro / Astor Boynton III

Dr. Robert Boynton – former director of the Institute of Science

Dr. P. James Elefun – current director of the IOS

Nick / Dr. Nicholas Watson (OC) – Astor's childhood friend, who becomes acquainted with Astro on the Venus exploration mission.

Ahnnanicarnaya (Angel) (OC) – Venusian human with a "robotic" heart. Astro's wife. Possesses intergenerational memory and abilities previously not accepted on Earth as credible.

Shaum (OC) – Astro's son – human, intergenerational memory (including Astro's). Named after Angel's deceased father.

Sarah (OC) – Astro's daughter - human, intergenerational memory (including Astro's). Named after Astor's deceased mother (Dr. Sarah Boynton was an astronaut who perished in a fire on the International Space Station)

**Chapter 1: Awakening**

As if from out of a void came a flood of awareness and information: faces, voices, data-streams, bits of life experiences – some involving a self that was practically an infant, others involving fierce battles with alien life forms in the vacuum of space. Interspersed were shouts of joy and screams of pain and the distinctive sensation of firing pulse jets from his arms and legs.

The man became gradually became aware that his body was situated in a single, on-going point in time, at a stationary location. The rush of information and awareness assaulting his attention was just beginning to sort itself out. He knew there were others around him; he could sense them clearly, but his mind needed his full mental effort in an attempt to make sense of itself. It was as if all that he'd known and all that he was, had been spun into space as fragments that needed to be compiled and organized so he could understand what was happening to him. He _felt_ something unfamiliar – the compulsive need to suck in and expel air. But he _did_ have memory bits that displayed that same behavior – he was a child then.

He became aware of sounds: dull and indistinct at first, and then slowly he recognized the soft beeping of a heart rate monitor. Human voices were all around him – one in particular caught his attention, although he wasn't sure _why_. An attempt to open his eyes failed – it was as if they were welded shut.

"He's appears to be in shock, Doctor," commented a female voice.

At first the bed seemed to be shaking, but no, it was actually _his body_, shivering uncontrollably. Sensations flooded his mind, but not like anything he could remember. Yes, _sense_-sations: smells, sounds, feelings, tastes, tickles and twinges of – pain? – yes, that was _pain_ – but why did it seem so different from what he had experienced before?

For some reason he could taste chocolate – but in a way that confused part of his memory. Beyond recognizing the presence of theobromine, the _effect_ the **flavor** had on him was more intense and seductive than he recalled. Suddenly he became aware of the fabric around him: stiff, starched sheets, which were causing his skin to _itch _– a feeling both familiar and foreign. Then his mind produced an "image" that he could "see" – a phenomenon that made no sense at all (his eyes were still closed). The face of a beautiful, sad-eyed woman became clear. She carefully studied him, smiled broadly and tenderly whispered: "_Don't be afraid, Astor."_ In response, he attempted to call out "_Mom!"_ and reach for her.

The attendants around his bed heard a mumbled groan and witnessed his arms flinching. "He's probably dreaming," remarked a nurse.

Dr. Boynton leaned over the shivering form and gently called to him – uncertain, at this point, just _what_ to call him – he simply murmured, "Son, can you hear me? A-Astor? _Astro Boy?_"

With a sudden convulsion, the awakening man sneezed, and began coughing deeply, practically sitting up in bed. His eyes blinked open gradually – his vision was extremely blurry, and he felt a bubble of air rush up from within, and escape from his mouth as . . . a _burp?_

"Something's changed . . ." he thought, as slowly he began to realize his situation. He knew he was in a hospital room. He recognized one voice – "_my father" _- his tall, aloof, yet loving guardian; and the man who had created him . . . as . . . a _**robot? **_

"No," he thought in response, "that's a dream." He couldn't focus his thoughts on any one thing for very long – although that dream of being a robot kept coming to the forefront – it was incredibly realistic, but didn't make any sense. "_Dad's a neuro-roboticist – that's what's confusing me."_

He felt several hands upon him, tipping his head back. "Ouch!" he cried out quite loudly as the eyedrops administered worked to clear his vision. The people around him laughed apologetically as he blinked repeatedly to try and focus his eyesight, at the same time wondering what had happened to his _voice._

"Don't try to rush things, son. Just relax, you're doing fine." That _was_ his father's voice, he thought as he felt a familiar hand run across his head, through his hair. The drops caused his eye to sting and tear profusely – someone was dabbing his face with a tissue.

"Where's Mom?" he murmured, barely audible.

Stunned, Dr. Boynton leaned towards Astro, "What did you say? I couldn't hear you?"

In a raspy voice, he repeated his question, "Where did Mom go? She was just here . . . "

Following a stunned silence, Dr. Boynton said very gently, "Son, you must have been dreaming. Your mother's been gone many years . . ."

". . . . Nooo, I just saw her, I . . ." He sat up, opened his eyes wide and looked at the people at his bedside. There was his father – and Dr. Elefun, and – his eyes rested on the next person for a long moment. He knew her – _didn't he?_ She was **clearly** anxious for him to recognize **her. **"That's not Mom . . ." he thought.

She had large eyes of a most unusual shade of green. Something in him stirred for an instant. "Hey" he said and smiled softly. Her hands flew to her face as she fought back tears and then started to reach for him, only to be blocked by Dr. Boynton.

"Easy, not yet – we've got to let him have time to come around on his own."

"I must have a concussion or something" he thought.

"Do you recognize _me,_ AB?" Inquired the next individual. Astro studied the tall, sandy-haired man who was _clearly_ confident **he** would be recognized.

"Nick . . .?" Astro squinted, shook his head, looking perplexed, "Y-you look _old_." Then he paused, remembering Nick being in those "dream" sequences . . . with . . . his gaze went back to the blonde woman with bright green eyes.

"Hey!" Nick called out, "Whaddaya mean old? **You're** older than _me!" _ Dr. Boynton tried to hush Nick's comments, but Astro was ignoring his taunting anyway.

"I feel like I know you, but I _can't_ – I've never seen you before." Her face fell in disbelief, and she started to speak, but Boynton again interceded, by putting his hand on her shoulder.

"I think we should let him rest for a while. It's obvious he's going to need some time remember everything."

"Well," Dr. Elefun, finally spoke up, and directed his request to Boynton, "I'd like to ask him one question before we go." They locked eyes – but it was apparent Elefun wasn't going to take "no" for am answer. With an annoyed sigh of resignation and a nod, Boynton conceded.

Dr. Elefun stepped away from the group, and looked directly, calmly, into Astro's sleepy eyes. "I'm glad you're awake, my boy . . ." he said in voice that connected with something deep inside the confusion of Astro's mind. After a moment of silence, when was certain he had the man's full attention, Elefun asked "_I'm wondering_ _if you remember who_ _Astro Boy is?"_

_Author's Note: I'm having a few problems figuring out just how to get this site to work (couldn't find a way to add an intro) . . . but I want to thank my friends and muses here and at "the forum." I've enjoyed so many of your stories, and hope you might take something positive away from my idea of Astro's story. _


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Astro noticeably flinched when he heard the name.

His mouth dropped open and an expression of disbelief came over his face. He made a few guttural sounds, but gave no verbal answer. Dr. Elefun calmly smiled and acknowledged the younger man's reaction with a nod. At that moment Dr. Boynton – who was obviously caught off guard by Elefun's tactics – became nearly hysterical.

"_**Jim!**_ Now look what you've done! That's it – **everyone out.** I knew I shouldn't have had anyone else in here for this. He's not a _**robot**_, for heaven's sake!"

The little group of concerned friends were now visibly shaken (Boynton hadn't displayed an outburst like that in years) – they exchanged worried glances as Dr. Boynton physically nudged them to the door. "You _stay here,_ nurse Miller," he growled as he gently grasped her elbow. She didn't look especially pleased to have been extended this special privilege, however.

She glanced at the patient – who looked as if he was about to pull the blanket over his head to avoid any scrutiny. When he saw how frightened she was, Astro shook his head and rolled his eyes as if to say "_There he goes again!" _ She laughed softly in response – which immediately drew Dr. Boynton's attention from his I-chart.

"Something funny, Melanie?" he glared at her.

"NO SIR!" she exclaimed, as Astro frowned and quickly slid under the covers. When she caught sight of this, she laughed out loud.

Dr. Boynton saw a few locks of Astro's wavy black hair popping out from edge of the blanket and he sighed, as he walked over and pulled down the blanket to reveal his son's face, which held a benign expression.

"Well, I'm glad to see you feel well enough to flirt with the nurse, although that seems rather out of character for you."

"Oh." Astro looked away from Boynton's piercing glare, "Sorry."

"You can wait outside for a few minutes, Melanie, I'll call when I need you." He gave her a nod of satisfaction, and turned back to Astro.

She eagerly opened the door and slipped outside – smack into the people who had already been shooed away. They had been eavesdropping just outside the room and were full of questions:

"Did he kick _you_ out too?"

"We heard you laughing, what happened?"

"Does he remember anything yet?"

Melanie Miller raised her hands and whispered, "He'll have a fit if he finds me out here gossiping with you! I don't think he knows he's _Astro_, but he sure is funny."

That remark drew a quizzical look from Angel, and an "uh-oh" from Nick. Dr. Elefun offered a likely observation, "Well, if he was clowning around or mocking Dr. Boynton at all, that would be a reflection of _Astor's_ personality, not Astro."

* * *

Once Nurse Miller left the room, Astro's questions came tumbling on in one breath: "Dad . . . _what_ is going on? Have I been in a coma for like a decade or something? And _why_ do I keep feeling like I was this '_Astro Boy' robot_ . . . and in the dream, _you_ **actually built me into him**, and then you _abandoned_ me -"

Dr. Boynton raised his hand to silence Astro's panicky queries. He pulled up a chair and leaned toward the bed. "I'm going to tell you enough to relieve your anxiety, but not so much as to confuse you further." Several minutes of pensive silence followed.

"I'm waiting . . ." Astro started.

Dr. Boynton shifted in his chair and began, "You were mortally wounded one day when you _borrowed_ my auto-drive convertible."

"But – you _let_ me take it before –"

"When we were _upstate_. On the back roads of Westchester County! Taking that vehicle into Manhattan traffic is _**insanity**_, and I NEVER would have permitted it – for obvious reasons!"

"Besides I don't even remember an accident. I just picked up Nick at the gym, and brought him back up to Scarsdale. We didn't have an any problems -"

Boynton's eyes bugged out of his head, "Wait, WHAT? You had done that before? When?"

Astro looked sheepish . . . "Uhhh . . . I dunno, a few times." He thought for a moment. "But never after dark!"

Robert Boynton face-palmed, and then looked at his grown son. "Astor I had no idea you were doing that –"

Astro blushed, shrugged and said, "Gee Dad, I'm sorry, but the car always worked great." Then he gazed down and realized that something apparently _**had**_ gone very wrong. He looked up. "Are you saying I _had_ an accident with it?"

Boynton nodded silently.

"In the City?" Another nod.

"And I got seriously hurt?" Their eyes met. Astro felt a chill come over himself. "D-did I . . ."

"You died, son." Boynton whispered, and hung his head for a long moment, but looked up when he heard Astro sniffing.

Tears were streaming down Astro's face, which he quickly wiped away, cleared his throat, and pressed on, "What about Nick?"

"You never made it to the gym. The car failed to sense a 20th century delivery truck that wasn't fitted with a traffic transponder – "

"That's _illegal!_" he protested.

His father looked at him, raised an eyebrow, "And _**that**_ is why you don't operate a _self-drive vehicle_ into New York City."

A moment of silence, and Astro resumed his questioning, "So . . . if I _died_, **how am I here?"**

Dr. Boynton pressed his lips together and explained, "I cloned you. I cryogenicly preserved tissue from most of your organs and have been working on this particular project pretty much since the day you died."

_Now _**that**_ is cool in a creepy kind of way,_ Astro thought to himself. And if _he_ were here . . . could it be . . . "What about Mom? Did you clone her too?"

His father shook his head sadly, "Nooo, no. First of all, she was vaporized in that explosion. And I was far to shaken and the advancements in cloning were not where they are now."

"Oh." Astro thought about that for a moment, genuinely confused, "But I **know** that I saw her right before I woke up." They looked at each other.

"I'll want to talk with you about that later on, but the first thing is for you to get back to normal. And . . . in some ways, you seem to be doing just fine . . ."

"Yeah but what about this _Astro Boy_ memory that keeps creeping into my head?"

Boynton leaned forward again. "You know I had been working on biological computers and artificial intelligence environments, right?"

"Of course I do. One of the last things I remember is that you were going to try and bring back Jump as a cyborg dog, using his own brain cells to grow a high-powered AI for him." Astro tried to remember the outcome, but couldn't, "Did you manage to do it?"

"No, son, _I didn't_ – because I decided to try the same idea with _**you**_ instead."

They looked at each other, and slowly Astro understood what his father was saying, "You cloned . . . _MY_ cells to build an organic AI environment in a copy of _**ME?**_" Now Astro was smiling . . . this was exactly the sort of geeky, sci-fi, outside-of-the-box concept he and Nick would dream up between them. _"COOL!"_ Then a frown. "But I'm not a cyborg now, right?"

"No, technically, you are a **clone.** What I _wasn't_ expecting was for you to wake up thinking you were still a child . . . a _human_ child."

That seemed to please Astro enormously, "I can't wait to tell Nick. He's gonna be so freaking jealous!"

Boynton was a bit mystified at Astro's child-like enthusiasm, "Uhhh . . . _he knows,_ Astor. He was in here a few minutes ago when you first awoke."

A pause, Astro accessed his short term memory, "Oh. Yeah. Right." He replayed that scene in his mind, and recalled his reaction to Nick. "So . . . how old _am I,_ anyway?"

Dr. Boynton blushed. He honestly didn't know how to answer that question. "Ah, let's see – more or less 38 – "

"WHAT?!" Astro sat up abruptly, as his father gestured to shush him.

"But your body is brand new . . . so . . _. it's not like you're _chronologically_ old_ . . ."

Astro groaned into his hands, "Okay so the last thing I remember I was almost 13 – but now I'm 38. So what happened in between all those years, and how come I feel like I've been dreaming this 'other life' as a robot?"

Boynton stalled a few minutes as he put his answer together. Astro's gaze followed him as he paced around the room, stopping for a moment to open the blinds slightly and look at the view. He could see just a bit of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in the distance, realizing it was late afternoon, and that if the window was opened they could hear the carillon over the noise of traffic in the street below. With a sigh he returned to the chair, sat down and delivered the rest of what he wanted to share with his confused son.

"You have been living as the most advanced robot ever created - well, technically you were a class II cyborg/android - but to the general public, you were known as a 'super robot.' _You were sentient._ The only glaring failure was in the programming that was supposed to emulate your maturation into puberty. So while your friends grew taller and their voices changed, you did not. It appeared you were going to remain a child for as long as you, ehh _lived_. But – about 10 years after the point where it was supposed to launch, the emulation finally started."

"So I grew up?"

Boynton shrugged, "A little bit – but by that time you should have been in your twenties, so we migrated your AI into an adult body, and that's where you've been until very recently."

"So . . . what happened that I'm, uh . . . _**here?" **_This was all a bit much for him to absorb.

"Your AI basically crashed. We could migrate your memories into a back-up robotic body – but it appeared the organic computer, which housed your AI, was congenitally flawed – the same breakdown could happen again. So we decided to take a chance on 'downloading' your memories into a clone of the adult body you would have had as a human." Dr. Boynton drew a deep breath, and waited for his son to respond.

Astro sat with his mouth open, stunned, baffled and amazed. "Huh." Then he frowned, shook his head and asked, "But then why am _**I**_ here? If I died, I shouldn't be here, _right?_"

Boynton looked him in the eyes. "_I . . . don't . . . know."_

Both men were silent for a time. Finally Dr. Boyton said, "Well, Angel does have a theory."

"Angel?"

His father raised a hand, "Hopefully you'll remember who she is _soon,_ but it's not necessary for what I'm going to share. She's able to detect each person's 'life-force' as she calls it."

"Like an aura?"

He shook his head, "Nothing visible. More of a metaphysical energy stamp. Every organic creature carries their own. Even as a robot, she insisted _you were human_, and she identified the energy as coming from your AI without knowing that was actually the only part of you that contained cells from your original human body."

"So maybe I never completely _died?"_

"That sounds like a very simplistic answer, but I can't say it isn't possible."

"Well, why don't we get this Angel person to see if my 'energy stamp' is still the same."

Boynton stood up. "We did. _And it is."_ He turned away from the bed and went to get Nurse Miller, who proceeded to hook up a couple bags of fluids to the IV drip.

"Dad, do you think –"

Dr. Boynton raised his hand and cut him off, "I think we've covered more than we probably should have already. Right now I'm going give you something to help you sleep, and we'll take the next step tomorrow morning."


	3. Chapter 3

"Donna-marie, before you go, I need you to see if they can put a rush on Sector 34 of our genome profiles," requested Angel Boynton of her assistant. Since the cuts in Federal funding took effect, it was increasingly difficult to get research work accomplished _on time_ – let alone a rush situation.

"You sure you want to rush _that_, Angel? With the austerity crew they have in that department?" Donna-marie's expression was decidedly painful. "We're doing this for _Astro._"

Angel smiled, groaned and explained, "Yeah, I know, but my father-in-law will ask the same of them if we don't do it _first_, and after the snit-fit he put on for us this afternoon . . . " she sighed, shook her head, and looked up from her computer, "Let's just say he's a little bit more uptight than usual and I'd rather not have to deal with any collateral damage. Besides, if they don't do a decent job on it, we'll just resubmit the samples. Probably wouldn't be a bad idea anyway."

Donna sat down, "Does this mean they are going to – what do they call it? – 'activate' him soon?"

Angel looked up into Donna's eyes. She was used to keeping _many_ secrets and confidences, but Donna-marie Leone was Angel's "right arm" at the Institute of Science, and their working relationship had grown into a genuine friendship. Still, _certain things_ were not to be shared – with **anyone. **When she broke eye contact, Donna leapt to her feet, "Angel! They **DID** it?! Don't tell me they didn't because you _SUCK_ as a liar with **me!"**

Angel groaned and buried her face in her hands. "I _knew_ I should have gone straight home, but then I'd have to face Shaum and Sarah." In one swift motion, she stood up and strode across her office, arms folded across her chest. "I couldn't tell anyone. Not even the children – you know, in case he didn't wake up." She turned to face Donna-maire, and smiled for a moment, "And, no, they don't "activate" a clone . . . they "awaken" it. But that's not important. What is unsettling is that _**he didn't know who I was."**_

Donna gasped and ran over to her friend, "NO! Th-that's not possible, I'm sorry, from _everything_ I've read, that is _NOT_ how this will turn out." She put her arms around Angel who collapsed into the sobs of person who has been holding back too much pain for far too long. "Come on, get it out of your system" she said as she guided Angel to the settee, and grabbed a bottle of spring water from the small fridge. "Here," she put the opened bottle in her hand, "What we _need_ is some vodka for that!" Angel laughed as Donna put a box of tissues in her other hand.

At that point someone knocked on the door, and opened it before either woman had a chance to respond. It was Nick Watson. He took one look at Angel and knew what had happened. "Uh-oh, she told you, huh?" he asked of Donna-maire.

"YOU knew about it?"

Nick snorted, "I was THERE! Hey, he's my bff . . . or, sort of kind of is . . . was . . ."

Now Donna was miffed, "Well, I guess I see where _I stand_ in the universe of Astro's important peeps!"

"No, Donna, it's not like that at all! After all his own children weren't there – and they don't have any idea it happened today either."

She looked at both Angel's concerned expression, and Nick's focus on opening a bag of popcorn from the snack machine down the hall. "So the old man figured Astro's childhood friend and wife might help kickstart the recognition thing?"

"Don't forget Jim Elefun," said Nick between handfuls of popped corn.

Donna looked at the snack. "You gonna share that? Looks like it's going to be a long night." Nick winked and offered her the bag.

"Actually, my father-in-law didn't want _any of us_ there" remarked Angel.

Nick took the bag back when he saw how much Donna had helped herself to, "Heh, yeah then Elefun popped the '_do you know who Astro Boy is'_ question and old man Boynton just about blew up in his own pants!" He laughed at the memory of it. "It was a little scary, but also pretty cool. I thought Dr. Elefun was gonna keel over!"

"Wait," Donna inquired of Nick, "Did he recognize _you?"_

With a sense of pride he responded, "Hell, yeah!" Angel shot him a look, "Well, he _seemed_ to, but asked how come I looked so _old._" Nick saw her reaction, and added, "He didn't exactly _NOT_ recognize you, Angel. And he kept looking at you . . . so it's like he knows who you are, deep down, y'know?"

"What's he doing now?" inquired Donna-marie.

Nick laughed, "They gave him some druuuugs to sleep! Can you imagine? Astro Boy on druuugs?"

Both women shook their heads and dismissed Watson's lighthearted take on this whole event, which wasn't surprising, but bordered on the extremely annoying. Then Donna offered a suggestion to Angel, "Why don't you just 'blink' in there? The nurse is probably watching a movie at the station outside the door. They'll probably check every three hours . . . maybe just hang out, and if he wakes up – just talk to him. Or better yet – give him a kiss or something."

"_Something?"_ That was Nick.

Donna shook her head and continued, "Really – that might be what he needs to connect the dots. Especially if what Nick said was true – he kind of knew you were _important_ to him."

"Well," Angel mused, "I could certainly do that. My only fear is that if something goes wrong, then I have to deal with . . ."

"Robert the Intimidator! MMMWAAH HA HAAA!" Nick smiled sweetly, then offered in his clinical, professional voice, "Angel, darling, you made him a grandpa. He _loooves_ you. And better yet . . . he's _a little bit _**afraid** _of you and the kids_, ya know?" Angel frowned. "Naaaah I'm telling you – the ball is in _your court,_ missy."

"Speaking of the kids," Angel began …

"Nick and I can take care of them tonight," offered Donna. She turned to Dr. Watson, "Right?"

"Sure thing!" he exclaimed, "We'll get a pizza, help them with homework, watch a movie . . . it'll be great. And if they ask about this we'll say, well, we think your mom is hanging out with your dad to see how he is when he wakes up." He looked at Donna-maire, slid an arm around her waist and said, "I promise, no getting fresh during the movie!"

She gave him a playful poke in the arm and said, "Good. You go pick up some pizzas, and I'll head over to the apartment."

Angel hugged them both, and sent them on their way. Settling into her mind she felt both of their presences – they had been "reaching" for her, but she had been "blocking" them. She focused her thoughts into a message "I'm alright, we are trying to bring Dad around – I need to stay and to concentrate. Nick and Donna-maire are bringing over pizza and will be with you until I get home."

Both Shaum and Sarah "heard" their mother's voice in the part of their minds that held an awareness most Earth humans had lost use of over the millennia. Each child returned their own acknowledgement of the communication to Angel.

After sending a few emails, Angel logged off her computer, meditated a few moments, and stood up, focusing on Astro's room. She held the vision of it firmly in her mind, and let herself travel to the location, unseen – to reform at his bedside. Opening her eyes before completing the reformation, she could see the room was darkened, and could hear Astro softly snoring. _Snoring!_ He had _never_ snored before. She drew herself together, and stood there, at the foot of her husband's bed.

She walked quietly over to be near his face. Leaning close to him, she whispered his name, "_Astor, can you hear me?"_

He didn't respond at all. After waiting a few moments, she decided to try and reach him through telepathic communication. Not only could she feel his presence, but it was a sensation much, much stronger than it had ever been. She let her small message move out to him, hoping against hope it might rouse him from sleep. "_I love you."_

The reaction was not quite what she expected. His whole body jumped, and she felt an unstructured _return_ of energy from him that she couldn't decipher. But he did stir, and he did open his eyes.

"Mom?" he mumbled.

Angel smiled and whispered in his ear, "Nooo, guess again!"

Groggy, Astro pushed himself upright, and looked around the room. Angel lit the "nightlight" feature on the lamp next to his bed.

"It's _you_. You again!" He smiled – at least he wasn't _displeased_ to see her once more.

"I'm here to help you remember" she whispered with a glint of mischief in her eyes.

Astro chuckled, "Oh yeah? And how are you going to do that?"

"_Like this,"_ she purred, and tenderly, lightly kissed his mouth. Then his chin. Then his throat. "You have . . . _whiskers_ . . . and look! . . . _you have an Adam's Apple now!"_

He was thoroughly enjoying all this attention, and wrapped his arms around the beautiful blonde haired woman who apparently played some part in his life. _Maybe if I kiss her back, I'll remember._

Bad idea. He mashed his mouth against hers in a clumsy fashion that wasn't at all like any kiss Astro have ever given Angel. Worse yet, he decided grabbing her bottom might improve the likelihood of recalling their past relationship.

"Stop!" Angel cried breathlessly and pulled herself off of Astro. "That's . . . not . . . _you._"

"But I . . ." he started, "I'm trying to remember."

She shook her head back and forth, "No. This isn't right. You _don't_ remember. It feels like you, but it's **not** . . . it's not the same person."

Suddenly Astro had a kind of "flash;" a momentary image in his mind. And it was this same woman, and it was . . . him? "Oh my God," he breathed looking away, and then looking back at her, both embarrassed and stunned. "I've made love with you."

Now it was Angel's turn to look stunned as she shook her head 'no.' But Astro continued, "Yes, I have. Many times. We have _children_ . . ."

His heart was pounding in his chest and suddenly a chirping sound went off in one of the devices monitoring his vital signs. He looked at Angel, startled, when suddenly before his eyes, _**she vanished.**_

The door opened and the nurse walked briskly over to the beside. She turned off the alarm and adjusted the IV. "Looks like you had a nightmare. Don't worry Dr. Boynton, they'll go away in a few days."

"_**Dr.**_ Boynton?" he asked, "That's my father."

This nurse had clearly not been fully advised as to Astro's condition, "Well, yes, it _is,_ but it's also _you_ and also _your wife."_

"The blonde woman."

"Uh-huh, don't you tell me you don't remember Angel!"

He looked befuddled.

"I think you'd better go back to sleep, sir." She adjusted the dosage, and Astro quickly returned to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

The horrific sound of metal crashing into metal mixed with cries of human terror and agony. He tried to take hold of the steering wheel, but it would not disengage – the car was _still moving forward_ as if it hadn't struck anything. He knew he was injured, but was still attempting to bring everything under control when – as if in slow motion – the car bounced off the side of the truck and flew upwards. _It was going to completely flip over,_ and he was strapped into place with no way out. He cried out in recognition that his death was imminent, and squeezed his eyes shut. There was a sudden sharp pain unlike anything he had ever felt – and it seemed to go on forever without any escape.

Then he heard a voice, "_Don't be afraid, Astor."_

At that very moment he saw her – long, wavy black hair, and cinnamon brown eyes. She smiled and he cried out "Mom!"

* * *

Sixteen year old Shaum Boynton bolted upright in his bed. He was panting and his heart was pounding. He'd had some weird dreams before, but nothing like _this . . ._

Glancing at the clock he noted it was 4:15 am. He looked out the window, which faced east. The first light of morning was just beginning to illuminate the sky. _Where did _that _come from?_

Suddenly he realized **exactly** where it came from. And there was more – _generations_ more. _It's like a download or something – I can remember _**everything** _now!_

Jumping out of bed, Shaum pulled on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and stuffed his feet into a pair of sneakers beside the bed_. I've got to tell Mom. Maybe this means he's fully 'connected' to himself now!_

Quietly the boy made his way across the apartment to the master bedroom suite. He heard no sounds from his sister's bedroom, so perhaps she hadn't experienced the same dream he did.

Intergenerational memory was considered extremely odd and even disturbing to Earth humans, who – although sharing a common ancestry with Venusian humans – either did not evolve to develop this trait – or it eroded over time to become extinct. Essentially, Venusian people could access the memories of both paternal and maternal ancestors up to the point of conception of each new generation. The memory was not invasive, but it was readily available. Shaum could now remember not only Astro's robotic memories (as he could before), but also his _human_ childhood, and his grandfather and grandmother – easily back to his connections to the Astor family, from which his father was named.

He could see a light under the bedroom door. "Mom?" he called softly. He tapped lightly on the door, waited for a moment, and then opened it slowly. Angel was on Astro's side of the bed, embracing his pillow, as if holding him close to her. Although asleep, her face looked distraught. He wasn't aware of what had happened earlier – only that Astro still wasn't aware of his life as a robot. Closing the door, Shaum knew what he had to do next. Focusing inward, he directed himself to the nursing station outside of his father's hospital room at the IOS.

* * *

Helene Brown, RN, was dozing comfortably at the station outside of room B241. The TV monitor was streaming _Our World 24/7/365_ as she slept. Shaum held himself back from reforming while he studied the situation, the announcer's tease for an upcoming segment caught his attention, "When we return, we've got breaking news that suggests maybe Astro Boy **isn't **M.I.A. because of a top secret assignment. **Could he be missing **_**permanently?"**_

_Great – wonder who let that clue out? _ Shaum sighed and focused on the door. He had been inside the room last week before they had awakened Astro. He visualized the inside, moved himself there and reformed. "Dad?" he called softly as he studied his father's face.

He _didn't_ look exactly the same, that was for sure. In fact he more closely resembled Grandpa and Uncle Cobalt. His face was longer, leaner, with a higher cheekbone, and a slight clef in his chin. And he had a day-old growth of _beard._ Even his hands were different – larger, but also more slender, and covered with fine black hair. "Dad?" he called just slightly louder.

_I wonder if maybe they've given him something to stay asleep. _He spotted the chart on the table, and activated it, logging in with what he now could recall to be his grandfather's favorite password: sArAhRoB4eVr_. It worked! Yaay Grandpa, way to go!_

He examined the notes and spotted the source of his father's deep sleep. _Zaleplon – whoa, that's a serious dose!_ Then he noted that the bag containing the med was empty, which meant the effects would be diminishing. Maybe he'd wait a little while and see if he could awaken him. After a few minutes of listening to father's metered breathing, Shaum began to feeling fatigued once again. Quietly he slumped into the bedside chair and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Astro came to consciousness. He lay there, carefully considering everything he _felt._ He was breathing, and in a way that was _different_ from before. He could actually feel a _heartbeat_ in his chest. He moved his hand over its location, and could feel the vibration it created with each pulse. Looking around the room, he tried to adjust his eyes for low-light vision, _but couldn't._ He attempted to activate his heads-up display to explain the malfunction – but there was no way to make that happen.

Gently, he opened his mind; his thoughts. It was as if there were two worlds inside of him, and he was at a kind of "connecting point." _I'm human. I _know _I'm human. But I'm also a _robot – _or, was one for a __long time._ He smiled . . . _How the heck did I end up human again? With all my memories from both parts of my life?_

***SNNNNORRRRP!**** Astro turned his head abruptly and recognized the sleeping teenage boy in the chair beside him. Reaching out, he tapped the youth on his knee, and gently shook his leg to awaken him. "Shaum! Shaum wake up. What are you doing here?"

With a start, Shaum awoke suddenly and blurted "DAD! Dad, you know who I am?"

Astro looked puzzled and grinned, "Yeeeahh . . . you're my son. _Of course I recognize you."_

"Dad!" Shaum lurched forward and grabbed his father in an emotional bear hug, which Astro returned as he worked to recall **why** Shaum would be acting this way. "You weren't remembering us. Just your childhood."

Astro looked away and thought about Shaum's comment. "That's right . . . I was – well, _part_ of me was blocking the connection. I guess it was overload or something."

"But Dad, there's more," Shaum continued excitedly, "I can remember everything now _from you."_ Astro didn't take his meaning right away. "I can remember your human memories now – and Grandpa's memories – and Grandma Sarah's –"

"Whoa, whoa," Astro stopped him, "Now you can go all the way back on 'my' side of the family? Whereas before you remembered _me,_ but not Grandpa or anyone else . . ."

Shaum nodded excitedly. "I actually dreamt about your accident – _that's_ what work me up."

Astro's eyes widened, "But _**I **_don't remember that."

"Well, _I do _– and right at the end I saw Grandma Sarah. She told you not to be afraid."

That brought Astro to full wakefulness, as he sat up and said, "But that's what I saw right before I woke up yesterday. She was looking at me, and said –"

"_Don't be afraid, Astor"_ they said together, and looked at each other into total amazement.

Suddenly Astor remembered something _else._ "Oh no." He looked at Shaum. "Where's your mother?"

"She was sleeping so I didn't want to wake her."

"N-noo you MUST. Or I must." He looked around, panicky. "You've got to take me to her."

"Now?"

"_YES!_ I screwed up royally. Really, really bad . . . Oh my God I can't believe it." He started to get out of the bed and quickly let out a yelp of pain. "What the . . ." He finally became aware of the IV drip attached to his wrist, and a catheter tube connected to the other end of him.

Shaum grimaced, "I don't think you can really go _anywhere_ yet, Dad." He looked around the room. "Do they even have clothes for you here?" He eyed his father's human physique. "You look kinda taller and thinner too. Like Uncle Cobalt's size, or Grandpa."

Astro sighed and carefully got back into bed. He looked at Shaum, dead serious. "Son, I know I hurt your mom because I didn't fully recognize her – and what's worse . . . " he looked away shook his head in disbelief and confessed, "she came in here to give me a little kiss and try to stir my memory, and I didn't know what I was doing." He blushed. "_I kinda groped her."_

"DAD!" Shaum was incredulous.

"N-nothing really gross – I-I just tried to respond to her kiss, buut . . .it didn't work. He looked up. "I feel terrible."

Shaum was laughing now, "Awww man, that's weird and I don't wanna hear about it!"

The door opened and Helene entered, shocked to see Shaum, "Oh dear Lord, how did _YOU_ get in . . . or, don't you tell me you did that 'blink' thing, didn't you?! That's not fair, young man – now get on out of here before someone else – like your grandfather – finds you in here, and we'll ALL be in the dog house!"

"Sorry, Nurse Brown," Shaum said politely. "I'll tell Mom. We'll be back in a little while. With Sarah."

"You'd better check with your grandfather first," Helene advised him, "He left a strict list of orders."

Shaum and Astro exchanged knowing glances, smiled, and Shaum vanished as he said, "See you later!"


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

"Shaum? Are you awake?"

Sarah waited patiently for a response. She didn't know if she should wake up her mother with this news, and wondered if her brother had also awaken with memories from her father's family. Her fear was that this was a sign that her father had _died._

Unlike Shaum, who focused on his Venusian roots as much as his Earthly heritage, Sarah put a great deal of energy into presenting herself as a "normal person," as she put it. She wanted to fit in with Earth girls. _Human_ girls. She didn't have anything against robots – after all, she was surrounded by them day and night, and even had an aunt and uncle who were 100% bot. Still, the glances and whispers other girls exchanged when she passed by put her ill at ease.

She knocked, and softly called him again, but there was no response. Sarah _really_ didn't want to use her telepathy. It seemed so . . . _invasive_ – like something an alien would do, and _she was no alien!_

"Sarah?"

She gave a little jump and spun around. "Mom! You're Up!"

Angel could tell her daughter was hiding something from her from her nervous fidgeting and her voice. "What's going on? It's early to wake up your brother." She saw what appeared to be genuine fear in Sarah's green eyes. "Come here _labahndaba_," she said sweetly to her girl, who looked so much like her father – same nose, wavy black hair and soulful eyes. She grinned as Sarah winced when she referred to her as "labahndaba" – or approximately "dear little one" in Venusian. "Oh, I'm sorry, I don't mean to call you by words that make you uncomfortable. Come here, child."

Angel enfolded Sarah in her arms, kissed the top of her head, and inquired, "What has you so upset?"

"I'm afraid Daddy died." Angel choked, held the girl at arm's length and nervously demanded, "Why on Earth would you say that? That's ridiculous, Sarah – you know I saw him just a few hours ago and he appeared to be _very_ healthy. He just doesn't have his memory yet."

Sarah was shaking her head and starting to cry, "Then why do I have all the memories now? I never had them before!"

Angel was perplexed. "What memories? Sarah what are you talking about?"

"Gramma Sarah. And Grandpa – before Daddy was born. And all the rest! That's why I'm afraid he's dead!"

Suddenly the door to Shaum's bedroom opened. "What's going on with Sarah?" he asked, concerned that his sister was crying."

"**Where were you?** I was calling you, but you weren't there!"

Shaum looked at his mother, who was still trying to get Sarah to calm down. "I was at the hospital," he locked eyes with Angel and smiled, "He remembers. EVERYTHING. He's okay, and he says he's sorry he didn't recognize you."

As Shaum made this announcement, Sarah shrieked with joy, while Angel broke down, and grabbed her children, hugging them with all her might. Actually it was a three-way hug-and-kiss fest, and thankfully the apartment was heavily soundproofed due to the frequently clandestine nature of Astro's work, or the people around their unit would have surely dialed 911 in response to the ruckus from the Boynton residence.

When they had calmed down Shaum asked Sarah if she also had the additional memories, and he shared how he had the dreadful recounting of Astor's car accident. "It seems like once he connected his past and present life, all the 'pieces' came together."

"But why would it work like that?" Angel wondered, "I've never heard of such a thing."

"Yeah, well," Shaum pointed out, "we're talking about _Dad's_ life. He breaks _all the rules._"

A short time later, at breakfast, an incoming _vu-call_ came through. Sarah read the ID, "It's Uncle Cobalt!" and she pressed the "accept" button on the remote.

The ever-cheerful visage of Cobalt appeared. "Good morning, fellow Boyntons! What's on the breakfast menu today . . . ahh . . . I see hot cereal, fruit, yogurt, tea and some cashews. You guys would NEVER last out here. It's bacon 'n' eggs everyday or they run you outta town!"

Everyone smiled at his greeting – he always seemed to notice food and comment on what people were eating (perhaps because he was not equipped to process the stuff into anything useful, as Astro had been designed to do in _his_ adult form). "Are you still working on that case near Jupiter?" Angel inquired.

"Well, that's the thing. They've got something for me to investigate out past the Pluto formally known as a planet." Shaum got the joke, and Cobalt beamed, as he enjoyed making his nephew laugh.

"Pluto's not a planet" said Sarah, flatly.

Shaum shook his head, "I'll explain it, but if you look back into Dad or _now you can also go into Grandpa,_ you'll see how funny it is."

Sarah pursed her lips. She was NOT going to invade the memories of her forbears.

Angel watched this slightly edgy sibling exchange, and looked up at Cobalt with a smile and a wink. Now _he_ laughed, and continued. "So, as I was saying . . . I might be M.I.A. for a few months – or more."

He expected a reaction, but his Earthly relations were too busy eating while he spoke. _Typical humans, _he thought. _I guess it's time to _really _get their attention. Here goes…_ "But with all these rumors I'm hearing about Astro being gone for good, I'm tempted to make my way back to Earth until I know it's okay to head out again!

All three heads came up at once. "That's _**bullshit!"**_ Shaum cursed. His mother looked at him, taken back. "I heard some gossip show commentator announce that they had breaking news about Astro Boy not being on a secret mission, but could be 'missing permanently.' I want to know where that started." He looked across the table where his sister was trying to make a exit. "Sarah!"

She could feel Shaum's energy poking at her mind; her conscience. Clasping her hands over her ears, she shouted, "Stop it, Shaum! It's not me, it's Derek."

Angel stood up and with a waving motion seated both children in their chairs. She held up a warning finger and looked back and forth between the two of them. "That's enough from _both_ of you. Now I will ask questions, and I want simple direct, answers." Then she looked at Cobalt. "No games." He gulped. "Where did you hear this Coby?"

"It's all over the news."

"Is it anything more than what Shaum described?"

"Well, one reporter claimed an inside source said his artificial intelligence crashed."

"Great" Angel muttered under her breath, "Sarah, who is Derek and what did he say?"

She looked embarrassed, "Derek Gates. Always calls me _Astro Girl_ and _Hum-Bot_ –and then he kept repeating he heard my Dad was 'broken and couldn't be fixed, ever."

"He's an asshole" Shaum muttered. Angel help up a hand to cease further comments from his corner. Cobalt was covering his mouth to hide the fact that he was genuinely enjoying this spirited family drama.

Tears were streaming down Sarah's face. "I'm sorry. I asked him how he found out, and he said '_you just told me!'" _Angel hugged her daughter, whilst rolling her eyes in disbelief that she _fell_ for that.

She handed her a tissue, and said, "Don't worry about it, sweetheart. Dad's better anyway (she looked up at Cobalt with a smile when she said that) – now go wash your face and relax for a little while."

"Mom, you know who Derek Gates is?"

"No, Shaum, other than the fact that it sounds like he actually has a _crush_ on your sister and is making her life miserable." Cobalt laughed at this observation.

"It's Bill Gates grandson." Angel didn't recognize the name. "THE Bill Gates. Mr. Microsoft."

"Oh, so maybe he's mad we use Linux at IOS?" She smiled.

"So what do you mean when you say my brother is better?" Cobalt's voice held genuine concern.

Angel clasped her hands together, and breathed, "As of this morning, he remembers us all – "

"That's great!" Cobalt yelled

"_But"_ Angel added, "He also remembers being a human child. Being the original Astor Boynton."

Cobalt looked puzzled, "What does that mean?"

Angel looked her brother-in-law in the eyes, "We're about to find out, aren't we?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Dr. Marcato Kusai turned off the television, and sat there, numbed. Could that be _possible?_ Could Astro Boy be **dead?** Even more amazing was that no one "took him out." He died of "natural causes" – well, for a robot, the failure of the AI is about as "natural" as it gets. It was like a major stroke, or massive heart attack in a human.

Astro . . . felled by something that shouldn't have gone wrong, _but did._ He turned on his computer and brought up a pdf of the patent approval he had just received for his method of analyzing and integrating DNA fragments to quickly enhance plants and animals.

It had been years since Kusai had reformed himself after a decade of attempting to secure wealth by offering his formidable skills to the people who would pay the most – the underworld. When he was finally sent to federal prison for a 25 year to life sentence, he was eventually able to negotiate that back to just over 12 years (his connections and knowledge of the shadowy world of international criminal society proved extremely valuable to the government). In the meantime, Marc Kusai decided to focus like a laser beam upon himself in a _different_ way. He earned two doctoral degrees – in robotics and bio-engineering. Then he learned the fine art of applying for – and winning – grants. As he had always known, _people want stuff_, but don't know how to make it – and they are willing to pay handsomely for what they can't create on their own. This time he was going to try "going legit."

After almost ten years of cobbling together one grant after another (and keeping a very low profile), the man once known simply as "Skunk" held a patent that would be the key him to garnering a prestigious position in any number of scientific companies, associations or think tanks. With the right financial support behind his work, this was the kind of scientific progress cited for the highest of honors – Nobel Prize level honors. No matter what he had done in the past to sully his name, there wouldn't be a single scientific organization in the world that wouldn't offer him anything he wanted to bring his discovery to public light as part of their team (well, all except _**one**_ particular scientific enclave).

Naturally he had _**always**_ had his eye on New York's Institute of Science. But his criminal past had crossed paths too many times with Astro Boy, who was now working at IOS with his father, using his human predecessor's name (Dr. Astro Boy didn't carry much professional clout).

"So Astro's gone?" He picked up his tablet, and pressed "newspapers." The Daily News front page appeared, with a headline he never thought he would have ever seen, _**"The End of Astro?"**_

Skunk sat, and thought about what might have happened. _I know Astro's AI was organic. That means there could have been something congenitally wrong with the cells that were used. So even if they had a back-up brain – which I assume they must have had – they couldn't really use it because it would probably fail the same way the first one did._

This was interesting. He knew they couldn't use an _ordinary_ (if "state-of-the-art") electronic brain – that's what his brother Cobalt had been created with, and the main reason he was considered a "failure" and relegated to the IOS storage facility. It simply couldn't handle the calculations necessary to fully emulate the workings of a human mind. The result was compromised outcomes displayed as errors in judgment, slower assessments and physical reactions (which is also why he was never fitted with the armament Astro had).

When Elefun built Uran, the technology had advanced considerably, and she comes much closer to Astro's level of intellectual prowess (which is why she now worked as a research scientist on Mars – her efforts being cited as the key to success in the Martian Farming project). When Cobalt was migrated to his adult body, his AI was upgraded to the level of Uran's – which made him ideal for investigative work with the International Space Authority unit of the United Nations. Although still not fitted with Astro's full range of weaponry, he did possess leg jet/rockets, and digi-beams.

Although both siblings had integrated seamlessly as adults in mid-twenty-first century society, they still have limited intelligence compared to Astro. It seemed highly unlikely they'd "dumb Astro down" – or they'd have to decommission a great deal of _his_ weaponry. No, that is most certainly NOT something The Great Robert H. Boynton would lower himself to do. But what . . . would . . . he . . .

Kusai could feel a revelation about to bubble up from inside his mind. He poured a cup of cold, leftover morning coffee, and microwaved it until he could see steam rising from the cup. _Sugar? Naaah not when it's reheated_, he thought as he raised the up to his lips and reveled in its dank bitterness.

_So, they can't park his mind in a an electronic brain. But they _could_ hold his memories indefinitely by downloading them to a mainframe. And if they did that, then they could – what? – build another organic computer?_

"Nahh," he growled out loud. _Boynton wouldn't do that – at this point he'd be repeating a mistake. But I know he's been real interested in bioengineering since Astro came back from Venus with that paranormal chick._

Suddenly it hit him, and he dropped the nearly empty coffee cup. _"He's cloning a body for him! Of COURSE!" _

Skunk hit the search engines, and found just a few tidbits (the IOS web scrubbers were legendary) . . . but there were, indeed, indicators that Boynton had been experimenting with "bio-duplication" and "genetic augmentation."

_But _**I'VE**_ got the device and the patent – he's got NOTHING! I think the Institute of Science might actually be interested in finally talking to me! _He looked at his calendar. _And what perfect timing – the International Bionetics Conference is next week. We all know the future ISN'T robotics – it's augmented _humans_, and Astro _could_ be the first one, IF we can get his wife's natural abilities to work in a mere Earth-human body._

* * *

When Angel and the children arrived at the nurse's station, Dr. Boynton was finishing up with Helene Brown, who as ready to go off duty. She recognized Shaum and remarked, "Ahh hah . . . look who's back – only this time he's walking down the hall – not sneaking in using that crazy 'blinking' stuff!"

Both Dr. Boyton and Angel focused on the boy, who squirmed, and finally said, "I-I'm really sorry. I had this horrible dream – "

"He told me about it" Dr. Boynton interrupted. "But you also could have seriously traumatized your father."

Angel braced herself. Boynton turn his glare to her, next, "As _you_ did, Angel. I thought I warned you all how delicate this kind of work is, and how inexperienced the scientific community is with establishing reliable procedures." He turned back to the paperwork on the desk.

Helene saw the looks of regret, and tugged on Boynton's lab coat, "Oh, look at them doctor – they were worried sick – _just like you were._ Heck, we **all** were." She looked at him for a response.

He cleared his throat, straightened up, and acknowledged Helene's efforts to diffuse the tension with a nod. She looked at Astro's family and whispered, "Astro's blood pressure was a little high this morning."

"Yes, he's obviously inherited my cardiovascular profile. He _can't_ have any cholesterol, but human bodies do have flaws." Dr. Boynton looked up at Angel, "Let's hope they get those DNA profiles back _today_ so hopefully we can begin **fixing** those flaws."

Angel closed her eyes, and nodded, wondering if Donna-marie had remembered to nudge the lab for results. _Donna – sorry to butt in – please check on those DNA labs – Dad just mentioned them – we're going to see Astor now, I'll give him a kiss for you! _

She "listened" and "heard" Donna's "thought/answer" _I just called and they will 'try' – lame, I know. And I wanna give my Astro my _OWN_ kiss! _Angel smiled and sent back a telepathic "laugh." She walked over to Dr. Boynton and looked him in the eyes, "Donna has been in touch with them. They're hopeful it will be today." She squeezed his hand, reassuringly.

"Thank you, Ahnnanicarnaya. I'm sorry for that foolish outburst." Angel knew that when he addressed her by her Venusian name, he was expressing his affection for her. Smiling, she reached up and kissed his cheek.

"Let's go in," she said softly as she opened the door. The blinds were opened, and morning sunlight flooded the room. Sitting propped up with a mass of flimsy hospital pillows, was a dosing Astor Boynton/Astro Boy – but the sound of the door opening and people entering quickly roused him from sleep. He opened his eyes and took in the collection of visitors – who were anxiously, silently, awaiting some kind of response from him.

Recognition flooded his expression and the broad, slightly off-center smile he was known for spread merrily across his face. "You're finally **here!**" he cried out joyfully, extending his arms for hugs.

Dr. Boynton gave Angel and his grandchildren a little nudge forward, "Go ahead, I've already spent some time with him this morning."

"Daddy!" Sarah shrieked, and tore over to his arms.

He gathered her up in a bear hug, "My Sarah-bean! Let me look at you!" He cupped her face in his hands, kissed her forehead and looked up, "She looks older! How many months has it been? Four?"

"She did have a growth spurt" Angel said, "she's almost as tall as Shaum . . . but she's only two years younger"

"Well, she's a little less of a little girl, and a little more of a beautiful lady." Sarah clung tightly to her father, who she idolized – not because of his celebrity, but because she had always been aware of his deep love for her. Astro was profoundly aware of how important his relationship with his daughter would be in her growing up to be a confident, happy woman. Now she was on the beginning of her teenage years – making that clumsy transition that he had been spared. Sometimes all he had to do was hold her, or listen to her talk about what was on her mind, and he could see that these simplest of efforts could be enormously nurturing. He let her rest there, on his chest. "Can you feel my heart beating? I have a _real heart_ now – just like you."

Sarah giggled, "There are gurgling noises too. You don't hum anymore." She studied his face, "You've got a beard, Daddy!" She rubbed the stubble with her forefinger. "Feels funny. Are you gonna get rid of it?"

"Oh, I don't know," Astro smiled, "I was thinking of growing one of those crazy Gen-X beards like Grandpa!"

"NOOO!" Sarah groaned, "I want your old face back!"

Astro frowned, "You don't know like my new face? Is it that different? I haven't seen it yet. Shaum said I look like Uncle Coby."

Sarah sat up, studied him carefully, "No, Uncle Coby is kinda funny looking. You look handsome. Just not the beard."

"Sarah!" Angel cried out, "That's a terrible thing to say about your uncle." She turned to face her mother, and Angel was struck by how much more her daughter and husband physically resembled each other.

"I love Uncle Coby, but he's what girls call 'adorkable.'" She smiled, and everyone laughed at the description.

"Can I visit Mom now?" Astro asked of Sarah. She nodded, they hugged and she slid off the bed.

Angel took a deep breath, walked over to the bed, and sat down on the edge. They studied each other's faces.

_Can you still hear me?_ Astro thought. _Kaytah mon nolaubay kakazahgaht?*_

Angel beamed, "I see you still remember your Venusian!" Their gazes locked and they search each other's eyes deeply.

Dr. Boynton touched Shaum and Sarah's shoulders, whispering, "Let's give your folks a few minutes alone," and guided them quietly out of the room.

* * *

_Kaytah mon nolaubay kakazahgaht roughly translates into "Are you still my heart-blood (soul-mate)?"_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Both Astro and Angel watched the door close. She turned to Astro, who grinned boyishly and wiggled his eyebrows. With a giggle, Angel turned, focused on the lock, and concentrated until it appear to flip under its own power.

Sharp pounding immediately ensued.

"Awww come on," called Astro, "we're not gonna _**do**_ anything, we just want a little privacy!"

Silence. He looked at his wife. "Now, where were we?"

Angel looked down, not wanting him to see the uneasiness in her eyes. "Well, I'm not certain, but I believe a 12 year old version of you was trying to . . ." she really couldn't find a word she _wanted_ to use.

He groaned, "I know, I know, but you've got to believe me – I did NOT know who you were."

"Okay, but then where did that part of you 'go?'" She looked in his eyes to assess the validity of his response.

Astro was at a bit of a loss for words, "It's still here. It's me . . . but so is this . . . _other part_ – the part who knows **you**."

Angel considered his words. "Go on . . ."

When his silence continued, she looked up and saw the strange mixture of emotions on his face. "_Are you okay?_ I'm serious, Astor. I don't want you to feel like you have to act as if this is "nothing" and everything is the same, _because it obviously isn't."_

Her motherly instincts came forward. She ran a hand through his baby-fine black hair. "I worry about the 12 year old boy I saw just last night. **He** has a right to exist too. Are you trying to tell me that he's not a part of you anymore?"

"No. But it's more like – my 12 year old human self is helping my 38 year old robot self adjust to being a human. And vice versa." He looked in her eyes. "Does that make sense? Can you understand what I mean?"

"Maybe, but that appeared to be a whole separate person from the man I am married to – "

Astro shook his head, "No! He's not. He's me . . . or we are the same. Not all of myself was coming out when I was . . .uh . . . Astro Boy . . . you know . . . I couldn't just be an ordinary person anymore."

Now Angel looked a bit frightened, "Are you telling me I married a "fake" version of you?"

"Nooo, nooo," he said imploringly as he grasped her shoulders, "I can _**feel**_ now where programming was controlling my responses to things . . . "

Angel's eyes widened, "Whhaat?"

"You know what I mean – I couldn't get so angry that I would want to harm a human. Or swear. Or waste time if I was given something to do. . ."

Angel looked disturbed, "And here I thought you were the most admirable of men: honest, patient, hardworking . . ."

Astro face-palmed . . . "Noooo it's not that I'm a _fake_, or that I'm not serious about being a good person. Angel – I couldn't walk around with _completely_ free will. **Not** packing all that horsepower and weaponry. I never knew it, but I know now that I most certainly _**did**_ have restraints on my personality. It didn't "hurt" me, but it made it a lot easier to be . . . ah . . . _perfect?_" He winced when he used that last word.

"Huh," Angel hadn't expected to hear anything like _this_ out of him. And why hadn't Dr. Elefun or her father-in-law explained that? Maybe they thought it would never come out. She gazed away from him, and she gathered her words for the next question. "So what about us? That little boy who tried to kiss me last night scared the life out me. He was not you. Are you programmed and repressed with me, too?"

"Not with _**you**_, darling," he whispered, his voice full of pain, studied her face, and ever so lightly ran his fingertips over her skin, "Although I had _no idea _that my feelings for you were actually **like this. **That they were this strong . . . deep . . . _vulnerable."_ Then he sat back. "Wait a minute. You always said you could feel my _zaymantha_, my life-force." He looked at her fiercely, "Well do you still feel it?"

Angel nodded.

"And it feels the same?"

"Yes. Shaum agrees it feels the same too."

"So . . . why are you under the impression I'm not who I've always been with you?"

She looked away, still uncertain. "Because it wasn't like you _**at all."**_

"Okay, let's try it this way. If a 12 year old version of you were to walk in the room –without any idea who I was, and I came up to you and said I was going to try and get you to remember that we were married . . . _how do you suppose __**you'd**__ respond?"_ He smiled, knowing he had cornered her insecurities with logic. "Huhhh? Come on, you know you'd freak out!" He laughed, a sound she hadn't heard in _months_.

"Now, THAT is **not** how you acted when we first met, right? Remember that? You flew right up in front of me and were all worried about my feet being on fire because you didn't understand the jets." She was softening under his charm and warmth. "Come here," he murmured, and pulled her close to tenderly kiss her – "Better?" he asked softly.

"Let's try again to make sure," she teased, and went back for a deeper kiss. When this one ended, her eyes were full of fire, as she released him. She caught the glint of passion in _his_ eyes, and felt a rush of desire that was familiar – but also heightened.

He smiled, "That was . . . pretty darn incredible"

"W-what is it?"

He thought about what he was responding to. "Pheromones." A big smile. "Yup, definitely pheromones. I never had them, and I couldn't accurately respond to yours."

"Whew!" she breathed, fanning herself. This pleased Astro enormously, as he had never seen his wife of 17 years respond to him like _that_. _This is gonna be fun, _he thought.

Three loud knocks on the door. "Okay, it's been 20 minutes. Open up!" Dr. Boynton called.

Angel got up and let everyone back in.

"Geez, Dad. I'm gone for four months and all I get is twenty minutes?"

Boynton shook his head and waved at his son's grousing, "You'll have plenty of time to catch up, but we need to have a little meeting."

"Oh no," Astro moaned, "Back to work already? You haven't let me eat any solid food yet!"

Dr. Elefun joined the group at that moment. "Ahhhh . . . now he's looking much better. How are you feeling son?"

"Great doctor. Hey! Guess what! I can 'feel' my programming!" Boynton and Elefun looked at each other.

"What do you mean, Dad?" inquired Shaum.

"Well, when I think about parts of my robotic life, I can "feel" when maybe I would have yelled at someone or made some wisecrack . . . but the programming kind of kept me from doing anything that would have been inappropriate."

At that moment, a nurse rolled in a cart with breakfast and the morning paper displayed on a tablet. A wiggly dish of red Jello and a cup of green tea was offered. They all watched as Astro took a spoonful of his first solid food as a human . . . "Ummmm red dye #2 – my favorite condiment. Let's see what's in the news – "

"_No, wait, Dad!"_ Shaum cried. Too late. There it was – the page one headline _**"The End of Astro?"**_

His eyes bugged out of his head, _"What the fuck!?"_

Every person in the room gasped and glared at him, as he looked up and turned the tablet to display the headline. "Is this what our 'meeting' is about?"

Silence, then Shaum spoke up, "Uh Dad, you just dropped the f-bomb." Astro had to think about what Shaum was referring to, "You know . . . the last part of W.T.F.?"

"Oh." He responded, then it registered, "OHH! Oh, uh . . . heh . . . sorry. Uhh . . . see what I mean? No filter!" He smiled weakly, looking around . . . "I'm going to have to learn to be more careful!"

"_**I think so**_," retorted Dr. Boynton. "But yes, word has gotten out about what happened to you, and that means we need to do two things – decide what we're going to say, and when you will be able to appear in public again."

Astro thought this seemed amenable, and offered, "Well, I feel pretty good, so can't I just hold a press conference and show that I'm alive and well?"

Dr. Boyton looked at him, "Astor, you are alive – you are adjusting to a brand new human body. But it is just that – a human body. Nothing more."

The reality struck Astro like a ton of bricks. "What are you saying? I have NO weapons, NO flight . . . "

Dr. Elefun continued, "No strength – but you are intellectually the same, uh, less the 'filters' as you call them."

He shook his head, feeling strangely helpless and actually a little frightened. Looking at Angel, he said, "I can't stay like this! First of all I can't protect my family. Secondly – I'm a walking dead man!"

Angel took his hands, "Astor, we are working on this. You will be safe, and you will have powers – not like before, but we will make sure you are at least like the children and myself."

He looked incredulous, "But HOW? Have you guys come up with something in the past four months?"

Angel looked into her husband's eyes. "You have to trust us. We're working on it."


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

Nick Watson had just filled his cafeteria tray with an impressive array of some of the unhealthiest lunch options offered at the Institute of Science. He had quickly bypassed the beautifully constructed salad bowls, brimming with organic vegetables and herbs – all grown onsite in IOS's hydroponic ag labs, and fresh fruit/veggie smoothies, various nut and bean spreads and butters and even the seafood options, fresh from the city's fish market that morning.

Nick was a "meat and potatoes" man, and – lucky for him – IOS offered up only local, organic meat and dairy products which meant his double cheeseburger with lettuce, tomato and onion and double side of fresh cut fries were still better for him than a trip to the McDonald's down the block. And at least the chocolate milkshake was made with lowfat milk (however the ice cream in it _did_ offset that small nod towards sensible eating).

The cashier bot gave him the obligatory nutrition summary before he swiped his credit card. "This meal provides approximately 4,500 calories, 65 grams - "

"Abort!" Nick barked at the device, which obediently went silent. "Dumb-ass machine" he growled under his breath, as he strode swiftly away from the checkout.

"Don't abuse the robot, Watson. Some of your _best friends_ are robots."

Nick turned to see Reno grinning mischievously at him, "Not anymore, buddy" he shot back, "Have you seen him?"

"Only sleeping. They've got him isolated – even from _friends." _Reno was clearly annoyed with the way Boynton and company had micro-managed Astro's crash and recovery.

Nick put his tray down. "Hey, tell me about it. And for _what?_ The friggin' media is all over it anyway."

Reno laughed when he saw Nick's meal, "Jeeeez, Nick . . . what are you . . . _trying_ to give yourself a heart attack?"

Nick's eyes flashed, "ABORT!" he shouted at Reno, who was still chortling. He looked at his tray thoughtfully, then over at Reno. "I'm bringing this upstairs. To Astro."

Almond milk came gushing out of Reno's nose as he choked. _"Astro wouldn't eat that stuff!"_

"No . . . " Nick said softly, "But _Astor Boynton_ would **love** it." He smiled at Reno, picked up the tray, and walked away.

* * *

_Ahhhh, my lucky day,_ thought Nick as he approached the nurses' station. Julie Roosa looked up at the approaching scientist and smiled, "Nick! You brought me lunch? It smells wonderful!"

"I'll let you have some _**if **_you let me pass into the _inner sanctum!"_ he bargained in a seductive voice, gazing deeply into Julie's hazel eyes.

She blushed and giggled at the obvious ploy, looking away to hopefully hide her attraction to Watson. "Well, he won't be much company. He's sound asleep." She looked at the monitor. "Out like a light. Not even dreaming." She looked up.

"That's okay," Nick said, "I won't wake him … I'll just eat my lunch and catch up on some email."

"It'll cost you five French fries."

Nick groaned, shook his head and rolled his eyes, "You drive a hard bargain, Nurse Roosa!"

She laughed, helped herself to some fries, and keyed in the passcode to the lock release. Nick looked her in the eyes again and gave her a wink as he pushed the door open and slipped inside.

After carefully situating his tray on an adjustable stand and pulling up a chair he sat down and studied his friend's face. _I wonder who he really is. Can he actually be both people?_

Astro's human face was more rakish than his robotic visage. _Astor Boynton_ used to get away with just about _anything_ as a boy, thanks to being blessed with large, angelic-looking eyes, and an engaging smile. But there was also a touch of _The Scoundrel_ in his persona, and it was **this** element Nick had recognized again right away – and he was anxious to see how "_Astro Boy"_ would deal with the less than perfect elements of his _human_ personality.

The aroma of the burger and fries suddenly caught Nick's attention, and he tucked into his meal. After a few minutes he pulled out his Blackberry and began to review emails that had accumulated since the night before. A few were a bit more important than he would have like, and he began to respond to them when he heard sounds from the bed – mumbled moans and a yawn.

"Fooood. I'm _starving_." Astro blinked and rubbed his eyes. "Nick." He squinted, "Hey . . . is that _mine_?"

Watson looked blankly at his friend, mouth full of food, and shook his head. He swallowed. "I heard you wanted Jello"

Astro laughed, sleepily and pushed himself upright. "Yeah right." He studied the decadent feast on Nick's tray, "Lemme have some. I'm serious – _I'm starving!" _He looked thoughtfully around the room, "Hunger actually _**hurts**_. That doesn't seem logical."

Nick chuckled at that observation. Astro looked him in the eyes. "I _did_ actually buy this for **you. **But I promised I wouldn't wake you up, so I didn't want to waste it . . . "

Astro laughed out loud, "Sure Nick, that sounds like your kind of logic! Gimme that damn hamburger!"

"**Cheese**burger"

"Even better!"

Nick rolled the table over, Astro grabbed the other half with both hands, and took a huge, satisfying bite out of the sandwich. "Unnnnhhh mmmmm," he closed his eyes, relishing the juicy, flavorful mouthful – so _THIS_ was what humans tasted. But, of course, he had tasted this kind of food before – as a human boy. He only had to go back in his memory. Cheeseburgers . . . yes, they were actually his favorite meal. And fries . . . he looked up at Nick. "Tell me that's a chocolate shake."

Nick smiled at his long, lost friend, "It's a chocolate shake. Welcome back home, _Tory._"

The two men smiled at each other. Nick addressed his childhood friend as he used all those years ago. Before the accident and Astro Boy. As they ate in contented silence, Astro reflected on his childhood friendship with Nick Watson.

* * *

_Author's note: My life off-line has been busy lately, but I wanted to post at least a short entry to begin to connect these "new" characters to Astro's life. Hope to have more posted very soon._


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Twelve-year-old Astor Boynton sat anxiously in the passenger seat of his father's Mercedes Benz. He had texted his friend Nick to say he had arrived to pick him up. What Nick _wasn't_ aware of was Astor's double surprise for his friend: the car contained no adult driver, and instead of going to the Boynton residence to study, the car had been programmed to bring the two to Rye Playland for an evening of rollercoaster rides and plenty of ice cream.

Nick came running up to the car, pulled open the back door on the passenger side, and hopped in, "Hi Dr. Boynton, hey Tory."

Silence.

Astor turned around and with a devilish grinned cried "Supriiiise!" Nick still didn't get it. "Duuhhhh! Did you fall off the climbing wall on your head? **He's not here!** I took the autonomous car down to get you!"

Nick gasped in a heady combination of pure adrenaline rush and sheer terror. "N-n-no – NO! Tell me you _didn't!"_ He leaned over to look at the dashboard – Astor quickly covered the travel itinerary so he could surprise Nick with the rest of his dastardly plan. "Are you _CRAZY?"_

Astor rolled his eyes, "C'mon – my father takes this car into work all the time, and he let's us go back and forth to each others houses using the autodrive . . . "

"_**But he's always in the car – " **_

"Doin' _nothing!"_ Astor looked at his friend, very pleased with himself for pushing the envelope. "Happy Birthday a day early! I TOLD you we're teenagers starting now. Anything over 10 is a _teen_."

Nick covered his face and squeeed with delight – "Geeez Boynton, I really didn't think you would actually DO this!"

"Well, _get up here –_ I'm gonna sit in the driver's seat and try to look 4 years older and a half-foot taller!" Nick crawled up into the front passenger seat, as Astor buckled himself in and activated the next leg of the travel program he had preset.

Nick looked at the screen, "Playland?" He beamed.

Astor smiled, flashing two season passes, "Happy freaking birthday!" Among whoops and laughter the two boys punched up the most raucous, hard-driving rock music they could find (completely deprogramming Dr. Boynton's news and classical music settings).

* * *

"What's so funny?" asked Nick

Astro looked up. "I was just remembering how I surprised you on your twelfth birthday."

Nick laughed out loud – "Oh man, that was SICK! I could _NOT_ believe you did that."

Astro shook his head in wonderment, "_Neither can I!"_ Both laughed.

"Be honest, AB – you were scared shitless doing that, weren't you?"

Astro looked sideways, thinking, then laughed, "Ahhhh . . . _yeah._ But I had kind of played it out in my head so many times – the only difference was Dad wasn't in the car. I knew it would be the biggest surprise _**ever**_."

Nick sighed, "Well, ALMOST." Then he looked up into Astro's eyes. He was referring to The Accident.

With a grimace, Astro realized that the same fear-shirking behavior also _took his life away,_ and had emotionally scared his best friend. "I'm sorry Nick." He looked over at his friend. "I really, _really_ am."

Nick shrugged and said, "Well, I guess it all worked out, right? I mean . . . you're back . . ."

"Yeah, but if it hadn't been for the Venusian exploration you probably never would have met me."

* * *

After the Magellan spacecraft provided NASA with extensive information about the planet Venus, it had been relegated to a very low priority for further exploration. Between it's toxic atmosphere, and extreme greenhouse-effect addled temperatures, it was simply too "high risk / high cost" to justify sending spacecraft – manned or unmanned (or manned with robots) to assess if there were any assets to be gleaned from the planet.

For ages, mankind saw Venus as "Earth's twin" – and many felt the ever-shrouded sphere was quite possibly a lush, forested world where we might find life not unlike our own. Yet the observations made in the late 20th Century put an end to the speculation – at least until NASA, the United States Government, and the Institute of Science carefully reviewed the curious discoveries that had been made about the planet, but never revealed to the rest of the world.

These secret meetings focused how best to follow up on the discovery of clearly photographed ruins of what appeared to be a human civilization, numerous micro-pockets of what was read to be temperate zones, and a wealth of minerals – especially gold. After a half-century of successfully keeping the news from the public knowledge, there were people who could see that private exploratory endeavors could rob the US of the riches they knew existed in terms of gold and other valuable resources. The stunning reality of knowing that some kind of intelligent life **had** (and still could possibly) exist there demanded a team of scientists to evaluate what had happened to Venus, and if it did actually have access that would prove hospitable to humans.

Astro had been named commander of the mission, which would include a blend of military and private sector scientists to evaluate the planet for development and settlement. A crew of twelve was being carefully selected – including a few individuals who were "fast-tracked" into one of the dozen precious openings. One particular morning Astro reported to the executive conference room where he was to meet with the last individual being considered for the mission. When he looked over the dossier, he noticed that this man was also being "fast-tracked" – by none other than his father, Robert Boynton.

_That's odd_, he thought, _I've never heard of this guy. I wonder why Dad wants him included._

The door opened and a tall, ruggedly handsome man walked in. Astro stood up and extended his hand, the man was clearly a bit nervous, and seemed to not want to look him in the eye. _That's not usually a good sign._ "Good morning, Dr. Watson" he offered, not dropping his gaze.

"G'morning, Commander Boynton, sir." He firmly shook Astro's hand and with an expression of resolve, looked directly into Astro's eyes for a bold moment, before looking away again. This poor fellow was clearly uncomfortable.

_Might as well find out what's going on here. _Astro looked at the applicant's background and said, "Well, you clearly have outstanding credentials, but I am curious about . . .", he paused, looked up, "_how you know my father_."

Nick cleared his throat, swallowed and responded, "Well, uh, actually knew him _years_ ago. I uh, hadn't seen him since _I was a kid."_

That caught Astro's attention, "What?," that didn't make sense . . . "If you knew him as a kid, I would have known you, but . . . I'm certain I've never met you."

Nick drew a deep breath. "Yeah, uh well, that's because I didn't know _you_, but . . ." he looked at Astro, and said, "I knew your uhh _predecessor_."

"You mean," he was stunned, "You knew the _original_ Astor Boynton?"

Nick smiled and glanced away, "Oh, is that what you call him?"

Astro shrugged, "Yeah, I guess . . . how did you know him? Were you in his class?"

Nick bit his lower lip and nodded. "To be honest, I'm kind of surprised Dr. Boynton never mentioned me to you."

Astro shook his head, genuinely bewildered. "So you knew Astor well, then."

Unexpectedly Nick fidgeted, and shot Astro an angry glare. "Yeah. You could say that." He locked eyes with his soon to be commander, "Astor Boynton was my _**best friend**_." He put a biting edge on the last two words.

Astro's mouth dropped; he was at a complete loss for words. What could he say? _"Gee, I'm sorry?"_

Nick felt compelled to move the awkward conversation forward. It was obvious that Astro had never been told about Astor's life . . . "So where did you go to school? Dalton?"

"Noo . . . no."

"Oh, well, that explains it – because that's where we went to school. Then, after Astor died, my family moved to California – you know, to kind of give me a chance to 'start over.'"

"Sure, that makes sense." Astro could see the pain in the man's face, "I _**am**_ sorry I didn't know about you or how close you were to my family." He thought something else, "So that means you remember my mother . . ."

Nick moaned and raised his hand to his face, "Ohh, God – she was such a sweet lady, and when she died . . . " he waved his hand, in an attempt to gather his composure, ". . . . it just destroyed you _**– I mean him!"**_ He blushed. "That was embarrassing . . . "

Astro shook his head, "Don't worry about it, Dr. Watson – can I call you Nick?"

"Yeah, uhhh, I'm not sure . . . " Nick looked at Astro's ID badge, "It feels a little weird to call you Astor." He thought for a moment, "Well, how's AB for now? That kinda covers it both ways."

"Works for me," replied Astro, as he stood and offered his hand to Nick, "Welcome to the mission, Nick!"


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Well we can thank your dear old dad for reuniting us, then – because I certainly had no clue about that mission to Venus." Nick looked around as the door opened and Julie poked her head in.

"What's going on in here? Any leftover fries, Nicky?" Then she noticed Astro drinking the milkshake Nick had on his tray . . . and then the crumpled napkin and crumbs all over his bed, her eyes bugged out, "What are you eating, Astro? Your father will have a fit –"

Astro burped and Nick just muttered "Ooops too late . . . oh welllll . . ."

Poor Julie looked terrified, "B-BB-but –"

"Ahem," Nick stood up and took Julie by the hand, pulled her into the room and said very quietly to her, "Now listen to me: Astor and I know _EXACTLY_ how to deal with you-know-who. I PROMISE you there will be NO repercussions from old man Boynton about this . . . _in fact_ . . .", he pulled his wallet out – I'm sending you down to the cafeteria to get a little more – but GOOD stuff. Like Jello for our friend here – we'll send you down with this tray and you can bring back the 'happy food' – but just be sure to buy yourself some fries. **That** will cover up the delectable aroma of _forbidden fruit_ that is wafting around in here." He handed Julie $20, smiled and asked, "You in?"

Astro broke up. Julie collected the tray and garbage and left with a smile. "That's really twisted, Nick. _But I think it'll work._"

"Of _course_ it will work!" He waited until she had left the area, then added "That is, _until they analyze your crap!"_ Now he was laughing with Astro, "_WTF! How'd this hamburger meat get in here? What's this? A FRENCH FRY?" _

They looked at each other. "Then what?" Astro asked. He _knew_ Nick would have some kind of weasley way to dodge the problem.

"Simple!" he announced! "We get Angel to handle the report!"

Astro groaned, "Nooo not after I didn't know who she was . . ."

"No, really buddy, I'll ask her – or I'll get Donna-marie to tag-team it and we'll convince her to go along. I mean _come on,_ she wants you to be strong and healthy and –_sorry_, but your dad is just gonna geek out on this '_my son as science project'_ thing he has going on if we don't put our foot down."

"You _think?_" Astro quipped.

"Yeah, like Reno is pissed because he hasn't been allowed up here yet."

"What?"

"Uh – huh, and you know what – we oughta do something about THAT too!" He pulled out his Blackberry and texted Reno – _git ur $$ up here now. _

About 30 minutes later Julie returned with a tray full of both permitted and forbidden food, including another double order of fries. She felt secure that Nick would keep Dr. Boynton's prickliness at bay. That is, until she opened the door and found another uninvited guest. Nick saw her crestfallen expression and jumped up to help her with the tray and chat her up so she wouldn't panic.

"Heeey Ms Julieeee – c'mon in and join the festivities. Of course, you know Reno – now don't fret, we won't stay long in case Dr. B decides to drop in and -"

The door unexpectedly opened. It was Angel Boynton. The room went silent for a moment as all eyes turned to see Astro's wife _also_ with a tray of food.

Nick's scathingly agile mind quickly shifted gears as he made the overly cheerful observation, "Angel! What have you got there? How 'bout that! I see great minds think alike, huh?" he winked at her and reached to help her with the tray, which he set down alongside Julie's on the stand.

He looked up at Astro, "Hope you're hungry!" Reno snorted.

"Uhhhh . . . well, I was going to have that Jello, but let's see . . ."

Angel looked nervous, like she had been "caught in the act" – "Well, these aren't exactly on the list – but I knew he was still hungry this morning . . ." Her tray contained macaroni and cheese, tomato soup, and apple juice.

"Uh oh." Commented Nick, wagging a finger at her. "_Naughty_ Angel! Well, _I won't tell if you don't_ – hey Julie maybe you can watch to make sure OMB doesn't ruin Astro's lunch!" She smiled, relieved, and scooted back to her station outside the door.

"OMB?" Angel looked confused. Astro face-palmed.

"Old Man Boynton" he looked at her. "What? You never heard us call him that?"

She was fighting back a grin, "I didn't realize he'd been reduced to an _acronym_." She looked around the room. "I gather _none_ of us are supposed to be here?"

"Yeah," said Astro with a smile, "Isn't it great?" He reached for Angel's tray, and started to eat, shaking his head, "This is so weird – I can _remember_ eating as a human – the flavors – but it's also sort of "new" again. Ummmm . . ."

Angel was pleased he was enjoying himself, "Well, I don't want to rush you, but as soon as your done, I'll take everything out of here, so Dad won't have any idea. Those French fries will cover up the smell of the other food . . . "

Nick and Astro exchanged looks. Nick saw his chance to complete his "plan": "Uhh . . . you know there is one part of the puzzle that could ruin this stealth lunch – "

Angel turned, with a gasp, "Oh! _You're right_ – they'll be examining everything that comes out of him!"

Astro looked pained. "_Pleeeease!_ **Really? **I'm trying to eat!"

"Sorry Astro," Nick said, then turned to Angel with a look of concern, "_Hmmmm, I see your point._ We've got to keep – OMB – away from the test details, don't we . . . "

"Not a problem!" Angel interrupted, "**I'll handle the test.** I'd better get back to my office – Reno, I'd actually like to discuss a few things with you, so . . ." she looked at Nick and Astro.

"You two go ahead," said Nick, "I'll clean up, and make sure we leave _Astro Astor_ all alone again!"

She smiled at Nick's silly name for her husband. He hadn't finished _anything_, and had stopped eating, "Are you alright? Anything wrong?"

Astro opened his eyes wide, and tried to look innocent. "No! It's great! I'll finish it up. I'm really hungry!" Nick was covering his mouth to cloak a smile. Astro avoided looking at him.

"All right" Angel said softly, running a hand through is jet black hair and bending down to kiss his mouth, gently biting his lower lip. As she backed away, she gave him a knowing look and thought-spoke _"I don't know what's going on, but I can tell you two are up to __**something**_." Nick and Reno looked at each other and rolled their eyes as Angel said in a motherly tone, "_Behave_ yourself."

With a calm demeanor, she turned and walked towards the door, turning to look at Reno, raised her eyebrows, and he jumped up and follow her out the door, "Oh, right – you had a question! I'll see you later Astro."

_Ka-plunk!_

Nick and Astro just looked at each other, shaking their heads, and smiling. "That went almost **too** smoothly, Nick." He looked down at the tray, "I'm _stuffed!"_

"Here, I'll get rid of this." He looked in Astro's eyes, "She, uhhh _suspects_ something, doesn't she?"

"Yeah, but she's cool with it. After all – _she did the same thing you did."_

"What do you supposed she wants with Reno?"

"I'm almost afraid to imagine."

* * *

Angel directed a comment telepathically to Reno as they rode the elevator to the fifth floor, where her office was located. _"I don't want to discuss this outside of my office, but essentially it's about re-empowering Astro."_

Reno looked at Angel – it was clear she was more than a tad worried about 'what happens next.' He know that if he focused on her, and "thought" his response, that she would be able to "hear" him: _I've been obsessed with considering what we could do – but can think of nothing short of embedding weaponry in his human body – and THAT'S not gonna work."_

They walked in silence to Angel's office, which she unlocked with the retina scan, let Reno in.

She held her finger over her mouth, indicating the need to remain silent while she activated the vocal encryption shield, which presented itself as a pale blue glow around the parameters of the room.

"We are working – as we have been for years – to discern what it is that enables the children and I with these so-called 'powers' that Earth humans don't possess. Our presumption that it was purely genetic does not seem to be proving accurate – but we still aren't completely certain."

She punched up a few charts and data for Reno to examine. "It appears that my DNA might well be environmentally altered, and that this mutation was passed to Shaum and Sarah. The goal is to try and isolate the sources of the different functions – although they all seem to stem from the ability to manipulate matter – even the telepathy."

"But there are Earth human's who can reputedly communicate telepathically and move things through telekinesis – "

"And we've examined some of them – I'll share what we've found here," she said as she handed him a flash drive, "I'd like you accompany me to the International Bionetics Conference on Thursday – but I'd like you to change your appearance – color your hair and grow out your beard – so we'll be incognito. My hope is to locate and bring on board the man who you'll read about on the notes I've given you that might hold the key to bringing this all together, and enabling us to give Astro powers on a par with my own."

Reno's eye's widened, "But you have only _defensive_ powers . . ."

Angel shook her head – "That's not entirely accurate. Most of what I can do, can be turned _**against**_ an enemy." She looked at Reno with a slight grin. "It just doesn't _look_ that way."

"So we're going to try and find this guy, and get him into IOS."

She looked at him, dead serious, "If we don't succeed, it will just be a matter of time before someone kills Astro."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

At about 6 pm, Astro heard a sharp rap on his door, which promptly swung open. He looked up from his reading – he had been catching up on what had been happening in the world while he was "on hiatus" – and smiled as his father, wife, children and Nick filed into the room.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Well," Dr. Boynton began, "We're very, _very_ pleased at your vital signs, son. And although Nurse Roosa _**lost**_ the receipt I specifically asked her to keep, you appear to be responding well to the next level of solid food!"

Nick, Angel and Astro all displayed flashes of embarrassment and discomfort at consciously withholding the truth of what had occurred earlier that day. Boynton took notice of this, but continued, "So I've reserved the executive dining room on the seventh floor, and I thought we'd have dinner together up there – how does that sound?"

"Great, Dad – you mean I'm off the funky diet?" Astro looked hopeful.

"Against my better judgment – yes!" Both Angel and Nick face-palmed. Sarah and Shaum knew something was up, but could see it was being kept secret from their grandfather. They watched with amusement. "So! Astor . . . what do you want for your first real dinner?"

Astro looked at him quizzically, "Anything?"

"Anything."

He didn't hesitate a moment, "I'd LOVE another double cheeseburger – onion rings, fries, chocolate shake and a banana split for dessert!"

Nick laughed out loud. Angel and the kids looked completely stunned. Dr. Boynton asked, "_Another?_"

Astro realized his gaff, "Did I say that? I didn't mean _another_ . . . "

His wife and kids looked at him – incredulous, "_**You**_ don't eat meat," Angel stated in a factual manner.

"_**Yes**_ I do!" he shot back – then stopped. "Oh. Heh."

"Uh-oh," Shaum looked at his mother, "Dad's favorite meal as a human boy was cheeseburgers." He looked over at Nick, "Right Dr. Watson?"

Sheepishly Nick nodded.

"And chocolate milkshakes," added Dr. Boynton, "and also pizza."

"Pizza would be good, too," Astro commented. "But I like both pepperoni and sausage on it," he added, almost apologetically. He looked at Angel. "I'm sorry. It didn't matter to me before. And I didn't _know_ I used to like meat."

Dr. Boynton sighed, "Okay, look – this kind of thing will work itself out – we're all going to order what want, and have a nice evening together. I've also got some new clothes for you, son." He produced a bag from Brooks Brothers. "Just to get you started." He looked at his grandchildren, "Why don't you both come and help me set up?"

He left with the children. No sooner was the door closed than Angel spun around, "_Another_ cheeseburger?!" She looked back and forth at Nick and Astro, and return her accusing glare to Watson. "This is **your** doing, isn't it? You had been plying him with food from his childhood! How's he supposed to make a good impression on his children when he announces that he likes . . . _THAT_ stuff?!"

Nick looked long and steady into Angel's green eyes. He patiently waited for her to finish . . . to get her "mad" out. Then he smiled very sincerely and softly said, "So, I guess you would have been stuck with a carnivore, no matter which one of us eventually won your heart, huh?" He searched her eyes, and then playfully wiggled his eyebrows at her, "You really are lovely – even when you're pissed off."

Angel couldn't hold back the inevitable smile, which evolved into both of them laughing.

"Gimme a hug, Ahnnanicarnaya" he said as he embraced her, "You've been through way too much lately, and I'm sorry for that." He looked at her as Astro busied himself pulling clothing out of the shopping bag. "Even if the new normal version of Astor eats animals, it doesn't mean he isn't still the same where it matters most – "

"_Niiiiick" _

"Get your mind outta the gutter, Boynton!"

Angel groaned and playfully pushed Nick away. "I know _exactly_ what this means. He's going to be more like **you! **Now I'll have TWO of you . . . characters . . . to deal with!"

"You love us, and you know it!" grinned Nick.

"Hey!" Astro looked at the two them. "I need help. I'm still "plugged in" at both ends!"

"Ewww! I'm no MD – but she's your wifey! See ya later!"

Angel looked at her spouse as Nick left the room. "I'm no MD either, but I think I can help, if you'd like." She sat down next to him on the bed.

"I **hate** this thing!" he indicated the IV tap. "I don't know _why_ you humans put up with _pain_ – it's really horrible!"

Angel smiled as she gently applied pressure on part of his hand to help mask the discomfort of removing the needle, but he still responded with a yelp. "Ohhh, I'm sorry! Here let me fix it." She held her palm a few inches above the needle's entry point, which was slightly bruised. "Close your eyes and relax, Astor."

He did so, and he felt a very warm, almost "fuzzy" sensation where it had stung just seconds before. When the warmth subsided, he looked down. The bruise and needle mark were both gone, along with the soreness. His eyes widened, and he looked at her. "You **healed** it. _That's_ what it's like?"

She smiled. "I've never been able to heal you before – that was for Reno or Dr. Elefun or your father to do." She looked up at him, lovingly. "Let's see how tall you are now."

"Okay. I might be a little wobbly on these new legs . . ."

She stood and extended her arms to support him as he raised himself up. At 5'4" Angel wasn't a particularly tall woman, and Astro, in his adult robotic form, had been only 5'8." She watched, amazed, as Astro stood to his full, adult human height of six feet, three inches – _now almost a foot taller than her._

"WOW!" he exclaimed from his new perspective. "This is GREAT!"

Angel looked worried. "You're even taller than your father . . . "

His big brown eyes practically danced with delight, "Yeah! That's why it's so GREAT!"

"How do you feel," she paused, "all the way _up there?"_

He laughed, clearly enjoying his new stature, "Now you really _**are**_ my _little woman!"_

Angel didn't seem comfortable with the new physical difference between them. Astro saw this in her face, and reached down to reassure her with a hug and a kiss. He intended to wrap his arms around her, and lift her up – but instead he stopped short with a grunt, and a shot of _pain_ raced up his back.

"Hhhhntt!" he stopped, looked at her, and tried again, "_Hhhnnnt!" _He came up _breathless _shaking his head in disbelief. "**I can't lift you!"**

Angel quickly realized what was going on, "Astor – don't panic, and don't even TRY to do anything remotely as you would have before." They looked at each other. "Like I said, we are _working_ on this, and soon, **your** body will work more like **mine!**' With that she pushed herself off the ground and floated up to his face, wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. "Okay?"

He nodded, looked down, and commented, "Looks like most of the additional length is in my legs."

Angel landed, looked at Astro, smiled, and said, "I'm **not** 'unplugging' the other end. I'll send your father down to take care of that!"

* * *

A short time later, everyone was seated around the table, when Astro and his father entered the small but comfortable dining room just down the hall from Dr. Boynton's office. All eyes went to Astro, whose tall, lean frame, created a much more imposing countenance than his admittedly unimpressive robotic body.

Astro took in their reactions. He was dressed in a pair of slim, fitted stone-washed jeans, and a burgundy cashmere crewneck sweater. His feet were bare inside of the Sperry Topsiders (Dr. Boynton had forgotten socks).

"Very preppy looking, Tory," Nick grinned.

Angel just stared; she looked very pleased with what she saw. Astro stared back at her.

"Daddy – you look so handsome!" Sarah exclaimed.

He beamed at his daughter, "Thank you, sweetheart. I feel strange being . . ." he turned, and teasingly finished his sentence, ". . . _taller than Grandpa!"_

Everyone laughed and uncovered their trays. "Hey!" complained Astro, "This is a _single_ cheeseburger . . . and where's the French fries!?" He looked at the pale and soggy looking mashed potatoes.

Dr. Boynton smiled as he replied, "Now Astor, I wasn't going to subject your digestive system to everything all at once – you remember what it's like to have an upset stomach, _don't you?"_

Astro looked across the table at Nick, who tossed him a fry from his plate.

"All kidding aside, son," Dr. Boynton said earnestly, "Your personal nutrition is going to be extremely important to you from this point forward." He looked meaningfully at Nick, "This is something _**you**_ need to understand too, Nicholas."

He sat back, thought for a moment and said, "Astor . . . or Astro – he's one and the same now – is going to need to bring his body into the peak of physical condition so it can withstand what it's going to be put through in terms of endurance. There are no more "upgrades" – and although Angel, Shaum and Sarah are – for all intents and purposes - physically _matched_ to Astro's robotic strength, we don't understand **how**. So Astro has to develop a very strong body." He looked at his son, "You're not going to grok your muscles like the Martian in that sci fi novel. You're going to have exercise, and sweat, and be sore and eat to support an athlete's body. And that's all there is to it."

Silence followed as they ate.

Well, not _really_. The following was all telepathic communication:

Shaum to Sarah and his mother: _"Mom – how come we don't have to do all that? Why is Grandpa trying to scare Dad?"_

Sarah to Angel: _"Why is Grandpa being mean to Dad? And how can Dad eat animals? That's gross!"_

Angel to both children: _"Somehow we are 'made different' from Dad, and our bodies adjust and react differently. Your father is fully an Earth human, and we might not be able to adjust his body for a long time. We have to be patient and try to be positive about this. Your grandfather wants your dad to realize that he's not going to be able to do anything the way he used to, and while we're working on restructuring his DNA to be more like ours, we have to keep his weakness a secret. Grandpa is scared too."_

The three of them looked back and forth at each other. Astro saw this and knew they were communicating, but couldn't hear a thing. Angel noticed him watching them and "said," _Don't worry lover, the children are concerned your not like us yet, but I promise by next week we should have the connection we need to change that."_

She smiled at him, and he 'thought' back to her, _"I love you. But I __**am**__ scared."_


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

Angel awoke to the sound of the "hot line" as she and Astro called the bright red cell phone that they kept on their nightstand. A quick glimpse of the clock displayed what she had expected – another mid-night emergency that needed attention. She picked up the phone – it was (as it usually was) Inspector Tawashi.

"Yes Inspector? What's happening tonight?"

She heard a sigh on the other end, "I'm sorry, Angel – I really am, I know this is the third time this week –"

She laughed softly; touched by his sincere sense of regret for asking her to help as the rest of the city slumbered. "It's _all right,_ how many times do I have to tell you?"

Tonight the NYPD had a cornered a trio of would-be thieves ready to steal works from the traveling Van Gogh exhibit that was about to open at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Unfortunately a hapless security guard wandered to close to the action, and was now being used as a hostage. Angel would be needed to "blink" in, and confuse/disarm the situation, and allow the officers to complete their work. Naturally she and Astro would work together to pull this scheme off much smoother and safer, but she was confident everything would be fine working solo, as she had for almost the past five months.

"I'll be there in a few minutes, Inspector. You won't see me, but just listen for me."

She sat up, and looked over at Astro's side of their bed. _I miss you so terribly._ Right now he'd be trying to help her wake up by telling her a few jokes so she could feel alert going into a dangerous situation. Or he'd be grumbling about one of Tawashi's seemingly endless remarks about the shortcomings of robots, and how they had ruined so much of life on Earth (even as he was _calling_ one for assistance in another life-and-death, dangerous situation).

Brushing out her hair, she deftly twisted it into a single French braid ending halfway down her back (her "Astro Work" coiffure of choice). Dispite the inconvenience – and danger – Tawashi's acceptance of her help made it seem like _somehow_ everything would eventually get back to "normal." Earlier that year there had been some talk of him retiring, but with the advancements in human life extension, it was no longer unusual to work with vigorous people in their 80's and 90's. Dr. Elephun was another person who now seemed "frozen in time" – but with her husband in a kind of limbo, she was extremely grateful to have these people around her. _They were_ _family._

She quickly brushed her teeth, pulled off her nightgown, and activated her protective skin implant. Immediately her body became covered with a bullet- and laserproof "shield" that also displayed an outfit reminiscent of her husbands: a black strapless bodysuit (resembling a one-piece bathing suit, with a wide green belt around her waist), and sleek red boots. This eliminated the need for clothing (which could get caught, catch fire, etc.) – but she didn't look at all "naked."

She sensed her children were both sleeping, but decided to let Shaum know that she was leaving for a while. Opening his door, she telepathically "nudged" him awake – just enough to say "The Inspector needs me for a little while. This doesn't sound very serious, so I shouldn't be long, son."

" ' Kay Mom," he murmured, "be safe." Then he sat up, suddenly awake, and whispered, "I can come if you need help."

Angel shook her head, brushed his hair back, and kissed him goodbye. "I'll be fine – you go back to sleep." She watched to make sure he settled back into bed, and vanished.

* * *

Clarence Tawashi didn't like the looks of the three men dressed all in black, two of whom were holding the guard steady with one hand each, while aiming guns at him with the other, while the third held a gun to his head and seemed to be in charge of the operation.

Suddenly – he heard a sultry, almost seductive voice in his mind, _"Ohhh this looks _interesting_ Inspector! Astro Boy will be sorry to have missed the chance to disarm three at once!" _Angel also had a charming, if quirky accent – she always verbally stumbled over the "stro" of _Astro_.

Tawashi smiled, "Where are you?"

"Right here behind you" she replied, squeezing his arm gently.

He held his cell to his mouth to feign a phone conversation. "These look like rookie members of _Carte Blanche._ They've all got plasma pistols and were able to evade the motion detectors. One guard got away and put in the call to us."

Now Angel felt a bit more nervous – Carte Blanche was the notorious underworld cartel that, as the name suggested, took full advantage of anything they felt could be exploited for gain. Only the most adept individuals were accepted into the network. They used the latest technology they could pilfer or develop on their own. IOS was on ever-diligent guard against their secrets being compromised.

"Those guns could be an problem for me," she said to Tawashi, "I'm going to have to get them out of their hands before they are able to fire them."

"I was hoping you were going to say your 'skin' is tougher than what we use on the force."

Angel sighed, "A hit from those wouldn't _kill_ me, but I'd rather not find out how much damage they can do."

"Great!" muttered the Inspector, "Where's Astro when you need him?"

Angel smiled, and decided not to respond to his rhetorical question. "I'm going in. I'm going to attempt to move the guard towards the back of the room while I confuse and disarm the others."

It all happened within a matter of moments: Angel relocated herself behind the four men. With a quick grab, she reached out and yanked the guard around his waist pulling him to the floor, spinning around and shoving him towards the awaiting police officers who had surrounded the would-be thieves.

As soon as Angel had touched the guard, he had also become invisible, as she was – so the hoods were momentarily confused and then they reacted as might be suspected – they pointed their guns around the room and began to fire . . . well, _almost_. She knew she'd have no way to reach any of them before they could pull their triggers, so she drew a breath and focused inwardly very deeply, as she willed her place in time to become parsed and malleable.

Angel could see that all three men were in the process of firing their weapons. The leader's gun had been fired, and the plasma burst was in the process of exiting the barrel. That meant she didn't have as much time as she would have liked. Time was still moving _forward_, but it appeared to be going by very slowly (_actually_ she was moving "very fast" within it's structure).

She deftly removed the guns from their hands – very carefully, so as to not tear their fingers off in the process, and slid them on the floor towards Inspector Tawashi. The plasma bust was making its way towards an officer who had no idea he was being fired upon. Angel knew she couldn't kinetically deflect the burst in this state, so she'd have to attempt to do that in "real" time.

Leaping into the air, she refocused her time-sense and was immediately returned to a noisy, chaotic crime scene. No longer invisible, she attempted to deflect the plasma burst, but it grazed off her shoulder instead and was redirected into the ceiling. She let out a cry of pain, and immediately dove towards the three gangsters, pushing them, together, down to the floor.

They literally had no idea what had hit them, and were trying to regain their footing as Angel frantically worked to physically push them back down. She just wasn't _big_ enough to keep three large men on the ground using her hands and legs, so she flew up about 12 feet, focused her energy and with her arms made a "shoving" gesture towards the Carte Blanche rookies who were kinetically pushed back to the marble floor, and held there, by Angel's concentration.

"Come get them, _quickly_!" she shouted above the din of police officers scurrying about, securing the priceless artwork. "Go ahead and cuff them, I can hold them still a little longer for you," but she was breathless – the burning from the plasma graze was rapidly increasing in discomfort.

Within a few seconds, all three were bound, and Angel was able to relax her concentration. She landed besides Inspector Tawashi, who looked a bit stunned. "I never knew . . . "

She held up a hand, nodded, and said, "I know, I've kept a lot of things quiet. I had no choice in this situation."

"How did you - "

"I don't want to say too much, Inspector," she cut him off – "it's better right now to not discuss it. I'll explain everything to you after Astro is back."

"You okay?" He reached for her shoulder.

"I need to have someone take a look at it, but most of all I need one of those guns so we can adjust the skin's resistance accordingly."

"Of course," Tawashi agreed, "After we've finished with them I'll bring one over."

* * *

"Shaum, I need your help." Angel said softly, her voice full of pain.

Shaum bolted upright in his bed to find his mother sitting on the edge, slumped over, in a bathrobe. "Mom! What's wrong?"

"Shhhh" she gestured, "Don't wake Sarah. I got hit by a plasma burst and it penetrated the skin. I can't focus to heal it – I need your help."

She dropped the robe from her right shoulder, revealing a nasty looking burn. Shaum gasped and felt panic begin to fill his mind. _No! This wouldn't throw Dad off – he'd focus on the job to be done. Focus . . . I don't have to respond with fear. That's a human-_animal_ response without reason."_

Angel saw a range of emotions race across her son's face until an expression of focused resolve (that belonged to Astro) appeared. Shaum looked at her, raised his hands to her shoulder, and concentrated.

* * *

"He's with Dr. Boynton in Penthouse B" commented Julie when Angel arrived at Astro's room, "I think he's moving out today!"

"Well, _that's_ good news!" smiled Angel, and she immediately blinked to the hallway outside of the designated apartment – one of four fully outfitted homes IOS maintained for special situations and honored guests requiring secrecy. The door was locked, so she knocked.

Astro opened it, "Oh, I'm sorry, I gave at the office!" he couldn't hold a straight face to deliver the line, as Angel gave him playful shove, and he broke into laughter. Dr. Boynton had apparently been shopping again; Astro was now wearing a _"Nerds R Us"_ IOS t-shirt, sweat pants and sneakers. He still looked devastatingly handsome to her. She _liked_ this human incarnation even more than the robotic one! Astro read her reaction to him and drew her close for a kiss. When she flinched, he pulled back immediately. His hand was on her right shoulder. His dark eyes studied her face. "What's going on?" he asked, concerned.

Dr. Boynton came over – "Does it still bother you?"

Astro became annoyed, "W-What are you talking about?" he eyed her, and she felt very exposed. "Annngel? What has been going on?" He put his other hand on her left shoulder. "You're right shoulder is warmer by 17 degrees."

His father looked alarmed, "_You can't tell that kind thing any more!"_

"Shhh!" Astro shot him a fierce look. Boynton became silent. Astro looked into Angel's eyes. "Tell me."

She nodded. "I helped Inspector Tawashi – " Astro looked as if he wanted to explode, but stifled himself, and gestured for her to continue. "My shoulder was grazed by a burst from a plasma pistol. The skin wasn't strong enough to withstand it. I was trying to kinetically deflect the burst, but my timing was off." She looked at him calmly.

"Shaum healed it for me, but it's still a little sore."

He looked in her eyes. "Have you been doing this the whole time I've been out of commission?"

"Yes."

"Whh—"

"Because I didn't want people to think you were dead."

Astro processed this news by looking around the apartment as he paced back and forth a few times.

"Did you involve Shaum?"

"No"

"Why not? He's old enough – "

"We both agreed not to turn them into "little Astros" – and I also thought it would reinforce the idea that you weren't coming back. Ever."

Astro sighed. He didn't like what he heard, but it made sense. _Still,_ Tawashi had been such an unappreciative son-of-a-gun . . . to help _him - _"So, do you have the pistol?"

"No, he said they'd bring it over when they were done with it."

Astro was really pissed off. "**Oh did he now?** When he's _**done**_ with it? You – or one of our children – or one of THEM for that matter – could be shot dead in the meantime!" Shaking his head in disbelief, he looked at his father. "THIS is the kind of reasoning that gives you humans a bad name with us robots!" Dr. Boynton chuckled and cleared his throat. So did Angel. Astro realized what they found humorous, and grunted, "Huh, oh. Well – yeah." He looked at Boynton, "Can you get it from him Dad?"

"Will do." He looked at Angel. "We'd better get going. That conference is tomorrow. Astro, you can work with Yuko to arrange for linens, food, and other supplies. I gave you a card for online clothes shopping – just tell them you'll be picking up the items at the store and we'll send an intern over."

"Right. Now I'm John Richards, a tall guy with no clothes." He looked at the credit card and smiled. "I feel like a secret agent."

Angel hugged him, "I'll be back tonight with the children."


	13. Chapter 13

Astro was sitting in the study, reading The Wall Street Journal on his tablet in front of the virtual fireplace when Angel entered. He was freshly showered and wearing a t-shirt and pajama bottoms.

"Your arms look different" she commented. Just a few days ago, he looked positively _lanky_ – like his father. Now, she noticed his forearms were showing a bit of muscular development. And, as a human, they were covered with fine black hair, which Angel was still getting used to as being a part of him.

Astro was surprised, but without looking up, he commented; "Yet _another_ science experiment. You can see a change already?"

"It's not steroids, I hope!" she said, concerned.

He grinned, turned and looked at her, hoping to assuage her fears, "Noooo . . . it's something called hypernutrition combined with hyperintensive training. No matter _what_, I've got to get help from your DNA. This will just make me _look_ like I mean business. I hope!"

Angel sat facing him on the couch and slid her hands up his belly and chest and around his neck. "Yes, the world won't _accept_ a **skinny** Astro Boy!"

Astro laughed and said softly, "_I love how you say my name. _I had forgotten how much – only _you_ pronounce it like that!" He was basking in her affection, and enjoying all the extra information being funneled to his brain by his human senses.

"Well, why do you think I call you **Astor**? I mean, aside from the fact that I got to _know you_ as Astor Boynton. Saying _Astro_ is tricky for me!" She studied his face: his eyes were closed, his lips slightly parted, black wavy hair was tousled every which way, and his beard had grown in significantly since this morning. "My mother can't say _Astro_ either."

"Naaahhhh, you say it different from her." he purred, and opened his eyes half-way. _I can't believe how beautiful she is – and I didn't even realize it before. _He gazed at his wife, and reached a hand up to touch her soft lips. "You love me, and I hear it in your voice when you say my name."

They sat for a long moment, just looking into each other's eyes. Astro pondered how incredibly lucky he was – Angel had _no idea_ of who he was when they met. Their relationship was blessedly isolated from his fame and reputation. Even after all these years with him on Earth, there was a very pure and unaffected connection between the two of them. They loved each other _just because._

Angel was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that _this actually was Astro_. The energy, the _personality_ was undeniably the same man she met on Venus, and felt an instant connection to. But the fact she could feel his bones, his muscles, his beard . . . and his soft skin actually had a scent – it was similar to the experience of bonding with a newborn baby. She was 'relearning' him, physically. And as much as she was deeply moved by his human presence, she was also painfully aware that she also **missed** the robot she had been living with for almost twenty years.

As for Astro, in contrast to all the struggle and pain in his life, marriage had been gratifying and easy. Maybe _too_ easy? Would that change now? He thought for a moment of how his human carnivore past had upset Angel when he revealed his actual love of cheeseburgers. Or how he had used the word _fuck_ as naturally as Nick or Reno would have used it. _I have to be more mindful of what I'm doing and saying – especially with Angel. I _never_ want to hurt her – she's already been through more than enough._ "Are the kids asleep?"

She nodded, then inquired. "Would you like me to wake them up and bring them in here?" She gave him a silly smile and they both started to laugh.

"That's okay, I just wanted to know, so I could do this," Astro cupped her face in his (larger than before) hands, and proceeded to kiss Angel's eyes, "And _this,"_ her nose, "And _this,"_ her ears, "mmmm _nom-nom-nom!"_ he mumbled as he playfully nibbled her neck. At this point, Angel was laughing and squealing and falling over backward on the soft leather couch. Astro positioned himself above her on his arms and watched her reaction.

"_What's gotten into you?"_ she asked, still breathless with laughter.

Astro wiggled his eyebrows at her and looked away, considering how to answer that question, "Hmmm . . . hypernutrition?"

She laughed, and ran her fingers through his hair, and yawned.

He studied her face. "Come on," he whispered as he stood up and pulled Angel to her feet. He bit his lower lip in concentration, then suddenly – with a genuine grunt and wobbly effort – he scooped up all 110 lbs. of her into his arms. His face showed considerable strain, but he didn't say a word.

"Astor, what do you think you're doing?" She was _loving_ this. With big smile she draped her arms around his shoulders and kissed the side of his face.

With labored, but determined steps, Astro carried his wife to the bedroom door (which, thankfully, was open). He paused there, looked into Angel's eyes and said, slightly winded, "I'm back, Ahnnanicarnaya – _**and I will never leave you again."**_ He kissed her, deeply and passionately as he entered the room and closed the door behind them.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

She was falling; tumbling head over heels through the air, unable to right herself. _How did this happen? I don't remember how I got this way!_ Try as she might, it seemed the ground was going to be the only thing to stop the plunge –

And then she awoke. _What was that sound?_

_sssshhhhnnnuuuhhhHHH!_

Angel turned abruptly to look at the man sound asleep next to her – snoring rather loudly. _He doesn't sleep on his stomach. _But he **was** this morning. The clock on the nightstand just behind him read 6:15; time to get ready for the day.

_Sssnnuhhhfffffff . . . . ffffffff . . . _

Angel smiled, completely amused by the sight of Astro sleeping – **really** _sleeping_ – as opposed to the "dormant mode" he dropped into as a robot. Ordinarily he would _sense_ her wakeful state, and become instantly alert. This morning found him nestled into his pillow – mouth open slightly – _drooling_ a little bit, and intermittently snoring. Occasionally he'd twitch, as if dreaming. He was completely in his own world, as she had never seen him before. Not wanting to rouse him, Angel focused and moved herself to the bathroom.

_He seems almost _ordinary_ now, _she thought as she brushed her teeth. When they first came together as a couple, Angel was fascinated by Astro's acute attention to her. Truthfully, it took some getting used to, as she was an independent spirit. He seemed capable of sensing her smallest displeasure, and put his full effort into bringing her back to a "happy place."

At first she thought this must be the nature of Earth-born men, but she quickly recognized personality traits in other male Earthlings that were a close match to their Venusian counterparts. Somehow, Astro was _refreshingly devoid_ of these things . . . the tendency to eschew tidiness, a dislike of movies women tend to favor, the ability to express personal emotions. She was blessed with a husband who happily enjoyed _anything_ she wanted to do.

A sudden realization flashed through her as she stepped into the shower, _What if he's not the same anymore?_ The warm water rushing over her seemed quell that thought. After all, he **was** still the same person; just "unfettered" from the restraints of programming. If anything he will probably be even _more_ endearing. Angel hummed softly as she bathed, thinking about how wonderful it was to be with him again last night, after all those lonely, uncertain months. True, his energy seemed to run out quickly – he had literally fallen asleep in her arms. _That was a little odd, but I'm sure he's still adjusting to his human body. _

* * *

Skunk – or, as he was known these days – Dr. Marcato Kusai, parked his modest Honda Accord in a garage near the Jacob Javits Convention Center. He placed an e-cig in his mouth, and made his way to the registration area of the _International Bionetics Conference. _The place was swarming with young scientists – interns, no doubt, hoping to make a connection here that would lead to a "real" job.

"Jeeeez, isn't there _anyone_ here over the age of 25?" he growled.

He heard laughter from behind him, and a woman's voice with an unidentifiable accent, "I was just thinking the same thing you were!" Skunk turned to come face-to-face with a shapely blonde. He _liked_ what he saw.

Angel looked up at the tall man with a quirky, boyish grin, and checked his nametag for an ID, but found it blank. "Oh, you don't want people to know who you are?"

"Ehhhh," he was fishing for an excuse, "I didn't know what to put down." The truth, actually.

Angel liked him. "Well, you could put _'I am NOT an intern!'"_ They both enjoyed a laugh over that.

Skunk looked at her nametag, frowned and then grunted, "What the hell is _that?_ Some kind of cryptic code?" He attempted to make eye contact with Angel, only to realize that her eyes were barely visible behind grey-green tinted glasses. He could sense that she was purposefully not responding. "_469BX02?_ What are you – some kind of _secret agent?"_

She smiled, cool as a cucumber, "Nooo . . . that's my registration number." She let him sit with that tidbit of information for a moment. "After all, they went to trouble of generating it just for me; I felt it to be a nice gesture to make use of it."

Skunk was dragging on his e-cig while working hard to cover his delight in this woman – she was quite a number.

"How is that working for you? Is it helping you break the habit?"

He took another drag, "Uhhh yeah. I'm down to next to nothing with nicotine, but I like the activity. Don't think I'll ever give **that** up."

Angel looked at the harmless water vapor "smoke" and commented, "I wish they had an e-_**pipe**_ – I know someone who could use it." She pulled out her BlackBerry and began answer a text. "Excuse me, for a moment."

_I wonder who she was referring to about the pipe . . . a husband? Boyfriend? I can't figure how old she is . . . gotta be in her early 30's, she's got too much poise to be much younger. _Skunk feigned checking his own email, as he took in Angel's legs – and the rest of her, while she was distracted. _This is one classy broad._ He looked up; she was watching him ogle her. He gulped; she raised an eyebrow as if to ask, _Like what you see?_

She broke into a warm smile, and shook her head. "You remind me of a good friend of mine." She was thinking of the ever-flirtatious Nick Watson. Looking at Skunk's still-blank nametag, she offered, "Why don't you use _**your**_ registration number? As you can see, it's a real conversation starter!"

Skunk looked slightly rattled, "Here, I'll hold your things – you fill it in." Angel took his totebag and conference materials while he obediently wrote out his conference ID number – which was nothing like Angel's. She looked at it, and made a telepathic transmission to Reno on the other side of the room: _Write this down: WTYYQ-10946._

When Skunk had finished, Angel handed him back his belongings and bid him farewell. "I like your registration number better than mine! Maybe I'll see you later!" He watched as she disappeared into the crowd. Then he got a brilliant idea.

He made his way back to the registration desk, and selected the most inexperienced looking person he could find. "Excuse me – I'm supposed to meet someone from another company – but I lost their name and title – I have their registration number, though. Could you cross reference it for me so I can find them?"

"Sure! Let me run that for you . . . " Skunk handed her the number, and the young woman ran it several times, and in several variations. "I'm sorry sir – but this isn't a real registration number. They all begin with WTYYQ like _yours_," she was pointing at his nametag.

_WHAT?!_ He looked stunned and felt the color draining from his face. He didn't know whether to be pissed off at Angel, embarrassed, laugh or run after her. Then, a slow, sly smile came across his face. _You clever little minx. I'll find out what you're up to._

Reno sent the number back to Angel via email, and entered his first seminar of the day, carefully watching for "people of interest."

Angel ran Skunk's number through the conference registration database that IOS had hacked into. _Dr. Marcato Kusai; well, I guess he's NOT an intern._ She planned to do more research during the break of her first seminar. Her job now was to listen, and watch and wait.

* * *

At 10:07 Reno was waiting for Angel under a stairwell near the restroom. He had collected a respectable amount of names and registration numbers that he was preparing to upload to IOS's "Vault" storage, where Donna-marie and others would dredge up background material to send back to Reno and Angel at the Javit's Center.

"How did you do?" Angel startled him out his concentration.

"Oh! Hi . . . great, I think I've got about 25 potential people. They all seemed pretty sharp."

"Hmmm . . ." Angel seemed dismayed, "I didn't fare as well. I've got five names. One was a real character." She thought of Skunk's quirky demeanor and grinned. They worked quickly to upload their files and made a mad dash to the morning keynote address – each heading into a different entrance.

Time passed slowly as the speaker was extremely laconic, so Angel used the opportunity to scan the room for people she might approach during the break. Suddenly her BlackBerry vibrated. A text from Donna-marie: _Kusai matches addy from patent office contact. He's also Googled IOS personnel. Go 4 it_

Angel was elated and stunned. _HIM?!_ She tightened her lips, in an effort to suppress a big smile. _Uh oh, I hope he didn't try to have them run my 'registration number.'_ She heard people moving – it was apparently break time. She looked up, and immediately locked eyes with Dr. Kusai, who was just a few rows ahead of her. Angel blushed. Skunk raised his nametag in one hand, and pointed at it with the other as he looked at her, questioningly. She froze. _Uh oh._

Skunk smiled knowingly and wriggled his index finger at her, bidding her to come to his side.

* * *

_Author's Note: In case it's not evident, Angel does not know Marcato Kusai as "Skunk." Astro's encounters with Skunk ended before he met Angel, so she is completely innocent about who he actually is. Likewise, Skunk hasn't a clue who he's flirting with (not sure if that would make a difference though, ya know?)_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Hello Dr. Kusai," Angel said softly, and amazingly unapologetically_._

"So you know who I am?" He looked at her, and discerned that he actually held the upper hand in this game. "Let's go get a cup of coffee and have a little chat, shall we?"

Angel nodded and telepathically alerted Reno, _This is apparently the guy we want, but he's a bit of a handful. Keep your ears open for a backup._

They sat at an isolated table in the café area set up for the event. She knew she needed to regain control of this interaction, and quickly. "I take it you are looking for a place to bring your work to life as much as any _intern_."

_She's trying to charm me. Why?_ "You apparently know more about me than I might like. But that all depends on what _**you**_ need to get out of it, and if your offers satisfy my _**demands**_." He said the last word slowly and seductively as he reached over and lifted her glasses off of her face. "What are you hiding your eyes for – " He stopped, mid-sentence and felt his heart plummet to the floor.

Angel gave him just a moment to look at her directly, and then lowered her gaze, blushing in spite of herself. There was something strangely _attractive_ about this man. And she found that disturbing, being he held the key to her husband's _very survival._

Skunk's mouth was dry. He quickly grabbed his coffee, and took too big a gulp, burning his tongue. He switched to the ice water. "Where are you from? Or can't you say?" He watched her face for a reaction.

Angel ignored his question. "Do you have a resume with you?" She looked up and held his stare, knowing that manipulating his attraction to her was the key to getting what she wanted. She moistened her lips with her tongue. Skunk's eyes widened and he quickly opened up his folio to remove a crisp sheet of vellum, which he handed to her. Angel made a point of letting her fingers brush against his when she took hold of the document.

Skunk studied Angel as she read the resume (holding it high enough to cover her face). "Heh," he grunted, "No wedding ring. Does that mean I can offer to buy you dinner – even if I don't get the job?"

Angel smiled from behind the paper, glad now that she had left the ring at home. She put the paper down, and took a business card out of her purse. In a calm, composed voice she instructed Skunk, "Call this number and ask for Donna-marie. She'll arrange a time for your interview."

"Is she your boss?"

Angel looked him directly in the eyes. "No. You'll be working _**for me."**_ She handed him the card. There was no name on it. But he saw what he had wanted to see: _Institute of Science._

"You're with IOS." He actually looked frightened.

"Is that a problem?"

Skunk downed the rest of the water as if it were vodka. "You **do** see I was incarcerated."

"That has nothing to do with your discovery and how it might benefit what we're working on." She leaned across the table, as if to scrutinize his response to the next question, "Unless you're planning to commit some kind of felonious act against the IOS or any of its employees?"

"NO! Uhh I mean no, of course not!" He looked at her. "So, uhhh . . . do you know any of 'em?"

Angel looked puzzled, "Any of _**who?" **_

Skunk tried to look casual, "You know, the hot shots . . . Boynton . . . Elefun . . ."

Angel shrugged, "Everybody knows them – they're in leadership roles. You'll know them too."

"What about Astro Boy?" He looked up, "Or is it true that he's dead?"

Angel put her glasses back on, a gesture Skunk took very seriously. "Well, Dr. Kusai, as you can imagine, I am not at liberty to discuss Dr. Astor Boynton's situation, and I would hope, that if you become a member of IOS then you will also be a good steward of our clandestine matters." She lifted her glasses, looked at him, and gave him a wink. "So you'll call Donna-marie?"

"Y-Yes! As soon as I get home."

"Excellent. Then I'll see you tomorrow." She stood and extended her hand, which Skunk grasped and shook. It was a firm, business-like exchange. He watched as she strode confidently away,

He put the e-cig in his mouth, and pulled on his hat. "Astro-smastro . . . _**she's**_ gonna be my next big project!" Then he realized . . . _I still don't know her name._

* * *

30 minutes later…

Skunk dialed the number on the card. It was answered on the first ring. "Leone here."

"I have been instructed to contact Donna-marie."

"That's me. Is this Dr. Kusai?"

"Yesss. . . "

"Very good. What time would you like to come in?"

"Ahhh . . . what's best for . . . _who is it I'll be seeing?"_

"Anytime is fine, Dr. If daytime isn't convenient, the evening is also available."

_Evening?_ This appealed to Skunk for a moment, but his curiosity was getting the better of him. He didn't want to wait that long. "How about 10 am?"

"Excellent, sir. 10 am it is"

"W-wait – where am I going, and I don't even have the name of the person."

"Don't you worry Dr. Kusai. You go right to the main desk and give them your name and they'll take very good care of you! Have a nice evening!" CLICK!

"WAIT!" He attempted to redial the number, including speed dial, but all he got was _The number you are trying to reach is not in service . . . _

"These guys are _**worse than me!" **_he complained as he collapsed on the couch with a can of beer. _I sure hope Astro has nothing to do with this hire, or I'm screwed before I get in the door!_


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

"Thank you, Dr. Kusai, follow me please."

Skunk straightened his posture and his tie as he followed the young woman across the vast lobby towards a bank of elevators.

The Institute of Science began in the 1950's without any particular structure to house its work. The United States government had allowed the ubiquitous "Area 51" to "go public" as it were. IOS never existed as an entity the public was aware of until the early 1970's, when the current facility was erected, as a joint effort of Columbia University and the Astor family foundation. Although everything was sparkling, the main lobby still smacked of the "space age" design elements of the 60's-70's.

What people _**didn't**_ know was the highly advanced research and development that took place here, and right now, Skunk Kusai was about to enter the inner sanctum he never dared dream he'd walk into, as a _sought-after scientist._ He gulped, his mouth dry with nervous anxiety, as he watched the administrative assistant swipe several cards, and then step close for a retina scan.

_Holy shit! All THIS for an interview?_ The door slid open and she gestured for Skunk to step inside. As he did so, an eerie yellow-green beam passed over him. She followed, but was not scanned.

"Soo, uhh, was _**that**_ the interview?" he asked with a nervous laugh.

She smiled sweetly, "Just making sure you aren't in possession of bombs or any other weapons of mass or minor destruction!" Her voice was just a little too perky to be saying those words.

Skunk looked at her, puzzled and amazed. "I thought maybe I was being given a complimentary _tan_ to help me look my best." She laughed heartily at that remark, which pleased Kusai as the lift came to a stop. She put up a hand, signalling him to stop. Now a _**red scan**_ flowed over his body. "Maybe I should be _nervous,_ huh?"

She laughed and motioned for him to exit the cab. About halfway down a rather long hallway of unmarked doors, they came to a stop. Skunk looked incredulous. "How do you know where to go?"

"My 'IOS GPS!'" she said with a smile as she raised a tiny device that was flashing to indicate she had arrived at the correct location.

Skunk shook his head, "Why do I get the feeling that once I go _**in**_ there, I might never come out!?"

His young attendant wasn't the least bit bothered by all this secrecy. Obviously she was completely comfortable with being detached from what secrets were being hatched just a few floors away from her station in the lobby. Maybe she _preferred_ it that way.

"Have a rewarding and productive meeting, Dr. Kusai," she offered as she opened the door.

"Thank you. Very much." He nodded graciously to the attendant, and entered the room with contained a number of comfortable leather chairs, a meeting table and other accoutrements that would benefit a small brainstorming session. Everything was in subtle shades of raffia and sage. Healthy, feathery plants were placed around the room to bring a touch of nature to the setting, and there, at the end of the table (_In the power position, _he thought to himself), sat the mystery woman who had invited him to come in for an interview. She looked up at him and gave him a dazzling smile.

"So good to see you again, Dr. Kusai!" They shook hands. "Please feel free to help yourself to coffee, tea, juice – " She pointed to a small refreshment area.

"Ahh, thank you, no, I'm fine, Msssss . . . " He looked directly into her eyes for a _name_, but it wasn't going to be divulged just yet. Angel directed her gaze to the papers and devices in front of her on the table.

"Let's talk about what is most important, **then** we can get to the personal matters_, okay?"_ She smiled back up into his eyes with the last word.

"S-Sure. Let's do that." Obediently he sat down, and removed a tablet from his leather breifcase. Skunk didn't realize it but he was actually being tested _already_. He coughed nervously.

"It is a bit dry in here, isn't it?" Angel asked as she went over to the bar and fixed two tall glasses of ice water and lemon, and returned with one for each of them. "Here's to new partnerships!" She lifted her glass to him, and he returned the toast.

Then Angel launched into a question and answer session about his scientific background, ideas, and finally a discussion focusing on the kind of work he would be contributing to . . .and asking him to reveal as much as he felt comfortable sharing prior to being offered a contract of employment. The built-in presentation system popped up out of the table and Angel shocked him with the depth of research IOS had made on his patented work – it basically said "We don't _need_ you, but we'd rather have you here to help connect the dots."

More than an hour passed as they discussed a number of theoretical applications for Skunk's work, and how he would best be compensated for where his procedure would allow for the enhanced development IOS was looking to produce.

"I am asking for 50 million dollars to start." He gave her a snarky grin.

"Okay. But is that a salary or a signing bonus?" Angel asked calmly, looked him in the eyes and raised an eyebrow, throwing the ball back in his court.

Skunk ran his hand over his face, trying to regain his composure, _Why does she have to be so gorgeous?_ He lowered his eyes, contemplating his next move. "Are you offering me the job?"

"Yes, I am."

"And you want me _so bad,_ you're saying _'name the salary, and we will meet it?'"_

"That's right."

"Yet I don't even know your name . . . "

Angel leaned forward, "Well, Dr. Kusai –"

"You can call me Marc" he said gently

She looked at him and smiled, "Okay, _Marc,_ I withheld personal information for two reasons. First, I wanted to see if you would continue to show interest in the job, and that you would be respectful of my decision to withhold that information from you."

Skunk sat back, and thought about what she had said. "So you wanted to see if I'd follow your command without a lot of hassle."

She smiled a "yes."

"How'd I do?"

She nodded, "Not bad. It shows that you are astute, patient and willing to be a team player."

_A TEAM PLAYER?_ He was stunned at that remark. _I guess that's from all those years of displaying 'good behavior' in the Federal lock-up!_ "Well! That's uhh. . . nice to hear. What's the second reason?"

Angel sighed. "This is a project that involves the utmost of secrecy. You will not know of everything that is a part of what you're working on, and if there were to be **any** indication of a _potential_ breach of secrecy, I can **assure** you – you will find yourself with no memory of having ever met any of us, or ever having been here."

She _meant_ it. Every word, and _he knew it. _This was **heavy.** Hell, this was the same stuff **he** used to dish out. Only then the person would be _killed_, not have a mere "memory scrub." Of course they have to do this. _No problem – let's move back into something a little more pleasant._

"That's fine. I understand completely – ehhh without understanding _WHY_ I understand, if you catch my meaning."

She smiled, "Good! Some people get very frightened at that kind of clause, but it's vital to our security."

"So when do I start?"

"When ever you'd like. In fact, if you'd like, I could even introduce you to Donna-marie, and the three of us could bring you up to speed. We'll just have to give you an implant, first."

"A _what?"_

She walked over to a small door built into the wall near the bar. Reaching inside she removed a gun-shaped device. "Once you walk out of here, Marc, you will be a target. This rice-size implement is positioned just under your skin, and it will launch a bullet and laser proof 'skin' over your whole body upon your mental command."

"Th-This is like _Astro Boy_ stuff!" He was eyeing the gun – and not liking the looks of it.

Angel laughed, "Actually, yes, that is _exactly_ where it came from. But these days law enforcement, firemen, celebrities and quite a few employees here all use it." She noticed the terror on his face. "Ohhhh, do you have an issue with needles?"

_Shit Oh Damn! I can't stand shots! _"Who ME? Nooo . . ." he waved his arm towards Angel, who playfully grabbed it and locked it in place, as she unbuttoned the cuff of his shirt.

"Oh, that's good, besides, this is IOS – we don't "do" painful injections here!" With a devilish grin she traced a finger up his inner forearm, "Ah! It goes _right there!"_ Quicker than he could even see, she aimed and fired the pellet into Kusai, who gasped, but made no sound, because, as she had said, _**it didn't hurt.**_

"_Welcome to IOS Marc Kusai!_ In about 15 minutes I'll show you how to work it. See? Here's mine!" She took his index finger, and positioned it over the tiny lump in her forearm.

"Well, I'll be darned." He looked at his new boss. "So, now what?"

"Follow me, I'll bring you to your _office!"_

Down the hall and onto another elevator that brought them to a password protected floor. No scan this time. This section was full of activity – there were people moving about, and soft, classical music playing in the background. Angel stopped before an open door, and peeked inside, "Donna?"

A head popped out of the office next door, "Down here!" A petite brunette emerged carrying a box. "Are you Dr. Kusai? I'm Donna-marie. Welcome to the neighborhood!"

They shook hands, and Donna handed him a box of new employee materials, manuals and supplies. "I'll help get you started, do prefer to be called Dr. Kusai?"

He was a bit overwhelmed by all the friendliness, "Ahh M-Marc is fine."

"Okay, Marc it is! Right down the hall is a kitchenette, coffee, fridge. Help yourself. You'll need to log onto your computer and set up a password, but you'll be using a retina scan most of the time."

Angel and Donna-marie retreated to Angel's office to give Skunk a little privacy, and were delighted upon return to see he had unpacked, logged on, and had his room rearranged slightly to make it look a bit more homey.

Skunk looked at Angel with a touching mixture of fear and amazement on his face. "I still can't believe I'm really here."

"Well of _course_ you're here. You're a great scientist, and you're going to help make the world a better place."

Those words were almost too much for Skunk to absorb. All his life, all his struggles and attempts to control his fate in devious ways . . . and now, this beautiful woman was telling him that **he** was going to help _make the world a better place! _He turned away from the two women to look out his window (and carefully wipe his teary eyes). Maybe he _could_ be a "good guy" after all?

Angel and Donna-marie saw this reaction, and looked at each other, genuinely moved.

"Awww! Come on now, Marc. It won't be long before you start cursing this place like the rest of us!" said Donna with more than a healthy dose of sarcasm.

Angel walked over to him, grasped his shoulders, and turned his body to face her directly. "Oh, Marc, _**I am sorry**_ about the way I've handled this whole thing." She looked in his eyes, concerned about the effect that basically steamrolling him into place in less than 24 hours had taken on his ego.

Skunk was actually feeling emotions that were his nature to repress, and now two women – "nice" women were fussing over him, and making him feel . . . desirable? . . . for all the traditional "right" reasons. What was he supposed to do now? Angel turned to Donna and said, "Marc is going to be a _perfect fit _here – do you know he doesn't even know my name? He thought perhaps _**you**_ were my boss!"

She laughed and continued, "He's also got a wicked sense of humor." Angel looked at him admiringly – "I can't wait to get started!" She extended her arms for a hug, and Skunk joyfully obliged. Of course at that particular moment, another person entered the room, who was taken back seeing his wife embracing a strange man.

"Hey! What's going on in here?" Astro blurted out as he walked towards the couple. Kusai's face was turned away from Astro at that point, but he dropped his arms in response to the sound of another male voice.

Angel was still smiling, and openly hugging Skunk, and physically turned him around to make a formal introduction. "Oh, good! You're here! I want to introduce you to Marc!"

Astro's expression softened considerably at her words, as he now better understood what was going on. In the meantime Donna-marie walked over to him and gave him a look up and down. "Ohhh my GOD!" It was the first time she had seen him as a human.

Astro looked in her eyes. "Is that good or bad?"

Donna extended a finger and poked him in the ribs, causing him to duck away, laughing. "You're _**ticklish?"**_She turned to Angel. "He can be _tickled!"_

Then all eyes returned to Skunk as Angel continued, "Marc, is the man with the patent that is going to bring things back to normal. Marc this is my –"

"_**SKUNK!"**_ Astro bellowed, _"What the HELL are you doing here?!"_ It was more a declaration than a question. Skunk's color drained, and all the previous warm fuzzy feelings quickly retreated into the shadows, where they had hunkered down for his whole life.

The room went silent. Angel was in complete shock, her mouth hung open.

"_Get your fucking hands off of __**MY WIFE!" **_he yelled, full of unbridled rage. Donna's eye's nearly popped out of her head at the recognition of the "eff" word. Skunk looked blankly at the furious man shouting his name, and immediately jumped back several feet away from Angel, who finally pulled herself together.

"Astor! Stop that this instant!" she cried as rushed towards him and grasped his hands in her own. "Close your eyes!" she demanded, and they vanished, leaving Skunk and Donna-marie looking at each other.

"What just happened?" Kusai asked meekly. "Who WAS that guy? I never saw him before in my life!"

Donna looked dazed. "Me neither, actually . . . " then she looked at Skunk. That was . . . _as in _**was** . . . Astro Boy."

"_WHAT?!"_

* * *

"_WHAT is going on?" _Angel demanded, as they arrived in the living room of the apartment at IOS. "**THAT** is the man who has developed the process that will hopefully enable you to become more like your old self."

"THAT is Skunk Kusai, who I thought I would NEVER EVER see again in my life! I understood he was locked away and they had thrown away the key!"

Angel shook her head, "No, Astor, you must be mistaken. That man is certainly a character, but he's harmless! Look at him! He's completely insecure and guilt-ridden –"

Astro snorted, **"AS HE SHOULD BE!** Angel, THAT MAN nearly killed me at _LEAST_ three times, with ohhhh I don't know, let's say a dozen more darn near close calls!"

Angel could see that her husband was being dead serious in his accusations. She searched his eyes and for her memory of this person. "Did you call him _Skunk?" _She frowned – such as awful name for someone! She shook her head.

"Yeah, Skunk. Skunk Kusai. I didn't even know he HAD a first name."

"It's Marcato . . . or, Marc, as he likes to be called . . . " she said softly, unable to look at Astro in embarrassment and concern. "But he truly _**is**_ the man with the patent."

Another snort of disbelief erupted from Astro, "And he probably stole the whole thing from somebody else!"

"No!" She said firmly meeting Astro's eyes with a defiant glare, "**That** I won't budge on. That man knows his science cold –"

"But – "

"NO buts, Astor. Maybe this is how your destinies were meant to play out. He . . . " she paused, looking around the room for a word, "He _**owes **_you – and without _even knowing he was going to do so,_ he's now got the opportunity to **save** your life."

Astro sighed, groaned, and rolled his eyes towards the heavens. He looked at his wife. He shook his head, an expression of hopelessness on his face. "Really." He turned and walked toward the window, as if he needed physical space apart from her. Folding his arms defensively across his torso, he finally said, "And what if you're wrong, Angel? What if this is how he finally gets his revenge on me for the 20 years or so that he's been in prison?"

Angel eyed him nervously, "I don't get that feeling from him at all."

Astro walked back over to her, never dropping his gaze. "And what if you're wrong, Angel?" he repeated, "What if he **kills** me? It's the perfect opportunity, isn't it? Tell me, did he claim to want to _**help**_ me?"

"No," she replied, annoyed that Astro didn't believe her evaluation of the man called Skunk. "He has no idea that was you – well, I was about to introduce you – "

Astro made a face of disdain and disbelief, "What are you talking about? How could he not know who I was? If he knows who you are then –"

"_**I DIDN'T TELL HIM**__ WHO I WAS!"_ she shouted in full anger, "How stupid and foolhardy do you take me to be?!" Now it was her turn to walk quickly away from him to put space between them.

* * *

Skunk walked towards Donna-marie, and pointed at the spot in the room where Astor and Angel stood only seconds before. His face was ashen. "W-Where did they _go?_"

Donna looked perplexed for a moment, "Oh, she probably blinked them back to their apartment." Then she realized Skunk had no idea what she was talking about.

"Blink?"

She smiled. "Yeah. Get used to it. Angel – the woman whose name you didn't know – is Venusian and –"

"Whoa, Whoa WHOA!" Skunk cried in a panicky voice, "SHE'S Astro's WIFE?"

Donna winced, "She didn't tell you? Oh. Hmmm . . . uh yes –"

"I was _hitting on Astro Boy's wife?_" He looked completely terrified "I had no idea!"

"Don't worry!" Donna tried to calm him down, "And I didn't think you looked like you were 'hitting' on her."

"N-NO!" Skunk protested, "Y-you didn't see me yesterday. And I thought she liked me too!" He shook his head in disbelief, "There was **no** wedding ring, and I _know_ when I'm clickin' with a woman. I feel like such _fool!"_

Donna put her arm around Skunk's shoulder and guided him to a chair. "You sit down here, I'm going make you my special cocoa . . . and I promise you, it will all work out fine." She started out of the room, but he stopped her.

"Wait a minute, Donna-marie." He looked up at her, "**_That_** was Astro?"

"I know. Right?" she shook her head in amazement, "That was the first time I saw him, too."

"He looks completely human"

Her face became very serious, "He _is _completely human, **now**. I'll be right back." She headed down the hall to the small kitchenette.

Now that he was alone, Skunk began to put the pieces together. _So I was right – Boynton must have cloned or created a body for him._ He thought about Angel, _I still don't believe she could be that phony. Could she? Doesn't he see that in her? Is she that calculating inside? If so, she's more of a robot than he is – was. Or maybe she's lonelier than she knows? There's something not quite right with her._

He thought about what she had said to him, "_Well of __**course**__ you're here. You're a great scientist, and you're going to help make the world a better place." _ That didn't _feel_ phony to him. Could she see something in him that no one else could? Maybe she _was_ actually attracted to him, and that's why she didn't give her name or accept his overtures. Maybe she's _that good._

Skunk heard footsteps, and looked up. A tall, blond man was smiling down at him. "Hello there. You look a little lost or confused? I'm Nick Watson. Are you the new Bioneticist?" he extended his hand.

"Y-yeah, yes I am," Skunk mumbled as he stood up, "Marc Kusai. Good to meet you."

"You okay? Nick could see Kusai clearly was **not** "okay."

At that moment, Donna returned with a mug of cocoa. Nick smiled, "Awwww – you'll be better now, if this is her _special_ cocoa! Nurse Donna's special concoction!"

"That's _Doctor_ Donna, buddy or I'll give **you** a demotion!" she teased as she handed Skunk the mug.

Skunk looked at it, sniffed, and asked, "Uhh . . . is there anything in here I should be aware of?"

Donna laughed, "No Kahlua before noon, but I almost added it!"

Skunk shook his head, "Between miss "I-can't-give-you-my-name" and being scanned repeatedly and having some kind of implant shot into my arm, only to be threatened by the new incarnation of Astro Boy because his wife was hugging me – and I didn't know it was his wife. . . ."

"You're forgetting the good part though." Donna smiled and winked, "Your incredibly obscene and thoroughly worthwhile salary!"

Skunk sipped the cocoa and stared straight ahead, "Huh. I actually forgot about that!"

Nick squinted at Skunk. "Holy crap. Is that what they put you through?"

Kusai looked up at him. "I couldn't possibly invent a story as bizarre as that."

Donna filled in the blanks for Nick. "I guess Angel had no idea that Marc Kusai used to be a uhhh . . . " she looked at Kusai.

"A criminal. A scientist who tried to get rich quick by working for the underworld." He said, deadpan.

Nick was stunned. "REALLY?!" Kusai nodded and sipped his cocoa.

Donna continued . . ."He was known simply as 'Skunk'" Nick laughed.

"No way. Why? Brevibacteria?"

Skunk smiled, "That's right"

Nick looked at Donna-marie. "Why didn't you tell Angel about this?"

She shrugged, "I had no idea that Dr. Marcato Kusai was "Skunk" – and I was a kid back then. But you saw his resume – he didn't cover anything up – he actually 're-made' himself while he was incarcerated."

Skunk spoke up, "I thought Astro was gonna kill me . . . and I didn't even realize who he was at that point. I _was_ concerned about crossing paths with him – but I didn't expect it to go down like _that_."

"Well," Nick commented, "I can't picture Astro holding a grudge, but then again," he looked at Donna meaningfully, "he ain't exactly the ol' Astro Boy guy we were used to."

Skunk turned and remarked, "He dropped the F-bomb."

Nick laughed, "Ha! Yeah, I've heard that a few times . . . just like the good old days." Skunk frowned, not understanding Watson's point.

Donna cleared her throat, and confirmed what Skunk had derived, "Dr. Boynton made and aged a clone of the original Astor Boynton's body. That's is where Astro Boy's AI is now."

"So he did crash?" asked Skunk.

"Yes, but the unexpected development is that he appears to also possess the memories and personality . . . maybe _soul_ of Astor the human as well as his life as Astro Boy the robot." She watched Skunk's face as this information sunk in.

Kusai blinked, and finished his cocoa with a final swallow – "And I thought _**I** _had a weird-ass life!"

* * *

Angel put her concerns together and walked back over to Astro who was sitting on the couch, hunched over, deep in thought.

"Well, obviously we have to move forward with this one way or the other."

He nodded, and looked up at Angel. "I can't say I'm happy about this"

"We can buy the right to use his work, and just let him go? But we might really need his insights and ideas as we attempt to bring this together. He didn't solve the problem, but he's come closer than anything we know of. _**You saw the research**_; you just didn't have his name."

Astro looked sad, almost defeated.

Angel continued, "Or . . . we can scrub his memory, and send him on his way, and try to find the way on our own. But there is no telling how long that will take, and if we'll succeed. The choice is yours, Astor. I gave my best effort. But if you feel you can't live with Marc involved, then that's the way it will go. But I do think it would be foolish to turn him away."

He looked at her, still uncertain.

"Like it or not," Angel said firmly, "Right now, the man you call 'Skunk' holds your life in his hands – and it's got to be _**your choice**_ whether or not you're going to trust him to help you."


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

Angel blinked back to the offices on the 5th floor. She stood in the hallway, trying to compose herself before facing the others, as it was obviously going to be more than a _little_ uncomfortable. She drew a deep breath and knocked on the door. Skunk answered, looked beleaguered.

She looked into his sad, hazel eyes. "Can we talk?" Skunk gave a little bow and extended his arm into the office.

"Do you want us to leave?" Donna-marie asked, guardedly.

Angel sighed, and shook her head solemnly, "No, actually we should all talk about this, and then we'll just have to see what Astor decides to do."

Skunk pinched his lips together in frustration: he had come so far – only to have it fall apart once again? _Oh, great – so now my career is in Astro's hands. _

Angel studied his reaction to her words. "Marc, I truly believe he'll support you."

Kusai groaned and buried his face in his hands for a lingering moment. Then he spoke, his eyes squeezed shut, "This is . . . almost surreal, you know? I found this end of bionetics to be where I could really make a difference – and yes, I knew the Institute is where the cutting edge work in the field is happening . . . but . . . "

"You don't need to explain _anything_, Marc," Angel said, gently squeezing his arm. "There's _no way_ you could have known your path would lead back to Astro, and the two of you would meet under these circumstances." She reached up and touched his face – causing him to open his eyes and look at her, "Maybe this _**really needs to happen**_ so the two of you can move forward from what happened in the past, hmmm?"

He looked at her, a little stunned. Donna and Nick exchanged "WTF" glances at her comment. Every now and then Angel's inner-Venusian outlook on life and eternity surfaced. For a scientist, she was almost disturbingly capable of declarations full of convictions and emotions not based in logic.

Skunk looked at the others, who smiled and shrugged. He didn't know how to respond. "What are you suggesting? There is some kind of karmic bond and circle between Astro and I?"

Angel walked over to the small meeting table and sat down. "Makes sense to me. You and he are both learning something about your humanity, aren't you?" She looked up at him. He blushed, not wanting to delve into such a personal matter with these people who were still strangers to him.

"S-s-so why didn't you tell me who _you_ were, then?"

Angel smiled, "I already explained that." She glanced at her small group of colleagues and decided to move the conversation into the actual work at hand. "I'd like to run through what we'll be doing over the next week."

Donna-marie look bemused, "Aren't you going to wait and see what Astro says?"

Gesturing for the others to join her at the table, Angel reached for Kusai's Ipad. "Nope! Time's wasting – Marc I'm going to borrow your tablet to bring up a schedule and action plan for each of us."

* * *

Astro was trying his hardest to push back the waves of doubt, fear and anger surging one after another in turn against his mind. No matter how much he attempted to employ the robotic logic that was always part of his "artificial" intelligence, these _feelings_ were beyond _anything_ he had ever experienced.

Then, for no apparent reason, he thought of Dr. Elefun. _I feel like he might be able to help me figure this out, although I have no idea why that would be so. I think this must be what humans call a "gut feeling."_

When he arrived at Dr. Elefun's office on the 7th floor, he found that Yuko, his executive assistant, was not at her desk. He could hear Elefun's voice through the door, and discerned he was at the end of a phone conversation. Fruitlessly, Astro attempted to increase his hearing power, and face-palmed in frustration at his inability to do so anymore.

He knocked softly on the door. "Dr. Elefun? Can I see you for a few minutes?"

"Astro? Is that _you?_ Of course! Come in, son!"

The sound of his former guardian's voice filled him with a much-needed sense of comfort and security – so much stronger than what he felt when he was a child. It rushed through him in such a way as to make him feel as if he could cry. This unexpected reaction caused him to stand shock still – his mind trying to analyze what was happening; his hand frozen on the doorknob.

Elefun rose from his desk, concerned, and walked over to the door. "Astro? Are you still there?" Opening the door he jumped slightly in surprise at needing to look up to see Astro's face. He recognized the expression of confusion and distress from Astro's child, and prior adult robotic forms – but now the face also displayed micro-expressions that indicated just how overwhelmed he was with . . . _**something.**_

"Hmmm . . . I see you've got something on your mind, right?" In his ever-fatherly way, Jim Elefun gave Astro a gentle nudge behind his right shoulder (although **now** he had to _reach up_ to do so) and guided him over to a comfortable chair by his desk. He looked into Astro's deep brown eyes and knew immediately how to draw him out of his "hyper-analytical mode."

"Tell me what happened that has made you feel this uncertain."

Those words seemed to snap Astro to attention. He looked directly at Dr. Elefun and said, "Angel hired Skunk to work on me."

Elefun screwed up his face – not sure if he heard what he thought he had heard – leaned towards Astro, scrutinizing him as he used to when – as a boy robot – he'd come out with a declaration that seemed to make absolutely no sense whatsoever. Then he shook his head and said, "I-I'm sorry, Astro – can you explain what you mean by that?"

Astro frowned, not understanding why Dr. Elefun would require an elaboration of his statement. "The scientist who developed the newly patented bionetic technique we need to hopefully give me the flight and strength ability that Angel and my children possess – **that** person turned out to be _THE_ Skunk."

Elefun's face went pale and a look of dread disbelief feel over his features. _Dear God in Heaven – is that really possible?_ Then he considered the small likelihood of such a thing being true. _Surely_ Astro must be misunderstanding something. A look of resolve returned to his deeply wrinkled face, "Let me have a look at his CV . . ." he muttered as he attempted to access Skunk's resume, "Let's see, _Skunk Kusai . . ."_

"No," Astro said, in a deadpan voice, "His name is actually Marcato Kusai." Elefun looked up. Astro nodded, "Really."

Elefun punched in the correct spelling and a few passwords to bring up the file. He read rapidly through the credentials, sitting back and thoughtfully stroking his chin as he absorbed the information. Finally he shook his head. "I'll be damned."

"It's legit, right?" Astro looked forlorn.

Dr. Elefun drew a deep breath, and shook his head and shrugged. "Well, assuming all this is accurate, it would appear that Dr. Skunk has done what we would want any miscreant to do – _he's turned his life around."_

"_Assuming all this is accurate,"_ Astro repeated, "_That's_ the thing, though, isn't it? How do we know? Why should I trust _him?_"

"You _shouldn't_" Elefun shot back, _**"I wouldn't!"**_ Then he realized where his response was coming from: fear, anger, and desire for revenge. Not that any of these reactions could be considered _unreasonable_ as a response to the ridiculous evil Skunk had perpetrated on society in general and Astro in particular. _No, I can't show him that this is an acceptable response to this situation – no matter HOW bizarre it may seem._

Elefun looked at poor Astro: an advanced adult AI trying to adjust to purely human emotions pushing against logic in a physical environment that was completely foreign and also imbued with a consciousness that was essentially still a child. _What have we DONE to him?_ It was going to be up to him to help Astro find his metaphysical "footing" in this situation. He raised a finger, and asked, "How does _Angel_ feel about all this?"

"She doesn't feel any 'evil' energy from Skunk – in fact, she _likes_ him. _Trusts_ him." Elefun waited for more detail. "She seems to think this is some kind of reciprocal event that is happening between Skunk and I. Like this is his chance for him to 'make things right.'"

"How do you feel about that?" Elefun watched Astro's face.

"I can't believe she'd just _trust_ him – or is it because she wants to 'save' me, she's willing to do _anything?_ I don't know, Doctor – I'm – I guess, confused or angry or scared . . . " He shook his head, bewildered at the mélange of emotions he was attempting to set into some kind of order.

Dr. Elefun considered Astro's reactions. "Hmmm, yes. I can see what's happening. You are still trying to keep a sense of logic and balance, while being swept up in all these powerful feelings and worries."

"Yes."

"Hmmm . . . we'll let me share with you how I deal with a situation like this." He looked reassuringly into Astro's eyes, as he reached for a glass paperweight of the Moon on his desk. Picking it up, he smiled and said, "This . . . _this_ represents all my feelings for Skunk." He held it between them for a long moment. "Anything that concerns me about Skunk – or Dr. Kusai, if you will – I am going to keep over **here.**" He set the paperweight down with a decisive _thunk_.

"Next," he picked up a cylindrical leather covered paperclip holder, "Here we have all my thoughts about Angel – and all the things she has said about this event that I need to consider. And this I will put in the _middle_ – because the _next_ item," he picked up a matching leather-bound pen/pencil cup, "This cup represents _you_ – your concerns, your experiences. And I'm going to set that right over _here_," he said as he placed the cup toward the other side of the desk.

Suddenly it occurred to Astro that he had actually watched Dr. Elefun fiddle with these three items on his desk for as long as he could remember. His robotic logic had assigned the activity to what humans referred to as a "nervous habit."

Elefun put his left hand on the paperweight – "We know Skunk has created problems. But we also see he has apparently worked for more than a decade to contribute meaningfully to society.

Now he reached his right hand over to grasp the pencil cup. "You have not thought about Skunk since his incarceration – and now suddenly he's back in your life in an entirely new way – in a form that doesn't logically square with what's happened before. _You_ are in a physical and metaphysical form that is very different from what you were used to – and this means you are still gaining experience in evaluating what is going on around you." He looked very meaningfully at Astro, until the younger man nodded in understanding of the point he was making.

"Now _here_," he smiled as he reached with both hands to grasp the paperclip cup, "This is Angel . . . she knows you for about half of your entire life at this point. And she knows Skunk only as a scientist who has chosen to change his path and motivation, and who holds the key to not only _'fixing'_ you, but pushing bionetics to an entirely new level."

Astro leaned forward, still not convinced, "But she could be wrong about this."

Elefun sat back, thoughtfully. "Hmmm . . . yes, I see your point, my boy." He looked at Astro. Can you think of a time when you and Angel were on opposite sides of how something should go?"

Astro lowered his gaze, thought carefully for a few moments, and looked back up, "Actually, only when there was the discussion as to whether or not she and I should become romantically involved."

"Hmm . . . yes, I see. And how did you both come to an agreement?"

Astro smiled, remembering back. "She wouldn't budge. She knew or felt that we should be together – even though it would be difficult – and it was." He looked at Dr. Elefun. "But she was right, in the end."

"Well, did she demand her way, or did you come to agree with her?"

"I was just concerned it would be difficult for her. But in the end I trusted she was being honest with me, and she wasn't afraid to take the chance of coming to Earth or becoming my wife."

"Hmmmm . . . and is that what is happening this time?"

"Actually, yeah." He fought back a little laugh, "She's pretty stubborn, isn't she?"

Dr. Elefun smiled warmly. "But she's leaving it up to you . . . "

"Yes," Astro said very softly, "she said it's my choice."

Dr. Elefun pushed the paperclip cup towards Astro and raised his eyebrows. "There's your answer, son."

They smiled at each other. "You married a good woman, Astro. It's not always going to be easy, but don't be afraid to _trust_ her."

"I know," he said, in a whisper. Then he smiled as he stood up, and pointed at Elefun's decision-making objects, "Doctor, I've seen you arrange those three things about 632 times, is _THAT_ why you do that? You're trying to figure something out?"

Dr. Elefun was startled – not so much because Astro had noticed, but because he had _kept count._ "Ahhh well, yes, actually. I learned it from my Uncle Fredrik – it always worked for me. And now that **you** have to contend with full-blown human emotions, maybe it can help you."

* * *

Angel, Nick, Skunk and Donna-marie were studying 3-D holographic images of DNA strands when they heard a knock on the door.

"It's open" called Donna.

Astro entered, looking a bit uneasy as he walked over to the table. He studied the three samples for a moment – "What are these glowing parts?" he pointed to "highlighted" nodules on two of the strands.

"This is yours" Donna informed him as she indicated the strand without anything glowing, "And this is Angel, and Shaum" she commented as she pointed to the enhanced strands.

Astro looked at his less than sparkling strand. "So my DNA has no _'bling?'"_

"That's one way to put it, Donna laughed with the others.

"We're working on rectifying that, buddy," said Nick.

Astro looked at each of them, resting his gaze on Angel. "Look, uhhh . . . I . . . uhhh . . . am really sorry for how I acted before." Now he looked at Skunk. "Skunk, I'm sorry – I had no idea you were the person . . . and what you had been doing. This whole thing caught me off-guard." He looked away, bit his lip and continued, "I don't know if I really like this, you know? I feel like I'm going way out on a limb. But I also owe it to you, Angel, to trust your feelings about Skunk." He looked at her, and then at Kusai. He stretched out his hand, "Welcome of IOS and congratulations on turning your life around so . . . _completely."_

The two men looked at each other; Kusai returned the handshake, "No problem, and actually I'm glad I can do something positive after all the crap I put you through." He paused, "Just one thing, nobody's called me _Skunk_ for at least a decade –"

Astro winced, embarrassed again, "Riiight – I – I'm sorry. Marc? Right?" He looked around the table, "Well, I've actually got a meeting in 10 minutes, so, I'll let you get back to my bling-less DNA. And . . . _thanks._ All of you," he said humbly, vulnerably.


End file.
